Havre Woman’s Plight Cited At Capitol To Support Medicaid Expansion
A Havre woman has been cited as an example as to why the Medicaid Expansion program should be extended in Montana. Andrea Mille’s letter was read at a rally in the state Capitol on Thursday.
Mille said she was the sole caregiver for her two children, 19 and 21, who have autism. Her letter was read at the rally by Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, who is sponsoring the Democratic bill to continue the Medicaid expansion that was passed by the 2015 legislative session. It has to be extended by July 1 or it expires.
Mille said that since her husband left the family her monthly income amounts to about $170, meaning health insurance “is completely out of reach.” Her job as a caregiver is 24/7, leaving her no time to work.
“If I get sick, my kids’ care suffers,” she said. “I will be taking care of my kids for the rest of my life.”
It is important for her to stay healthy, she said. There is a history of diabetes and cancer in her family. Medicaid expansion has meant she can get frequent checkups as well as eye examinations and mammograms so she can stay healthy.
Some Republican lawmakers have proposed that work requirements be made as a prerequisite for enrolling in Medicaid Expansion. Millie said if she had to get a job, she would have to hire a professional caregiver to take care of her children. That, she estimated, would cost about “north of $40,000 a year.”
Even mandatory volunteer work would mean that she has to hire people to care for her sons.
“Out of touch politicians don’t know what life is in my shoes,” she wrote.
The Medicaid expansion bill is expected to be one of the hot topics in this legislative session,
Forty-six Republican representatives voted against Medicaid expansion in 2015. Many Republicans in this session say they may switch to supporting the proposal, but they would like to see work requirements and would favor recipients pay a greater share of the cost.
Hill County’s two representatives, Jacob Bachmeier, D-Havre, and Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, favor a clean extension of the bill, while State Sen. Russ Tempel, who represents most of Hill County, said he would like to study the idea of some modifications.