Medicaid expansion gives Montanans access to care
In 2015, the Montana Legislature passed the bipartisan bill to expand Medicaid. Since then, nearly 100,000 Montanans have received health care as a result — 13,932 of those people are our neighbors here in Yellowstone County. One in 10 Montanans, mostly families with children, have coverage through Medicaid expansion, and they will lose greatly if our Legislature does not renew the program.
Medicaid expansion brings state and federal dollars to our community and it spurs our economy. I talked to a rural Republican legislator who said it is keeping her hospital afloat and saving lives because of that. I urge our Legislature to renew it.
I have lived in Yellowstone County for 37 years, and I was so relieved in 2015 when Medicaid expansion was passed. It gave families I knew access to health care which they did not have before.
Anne Harris, Billings