6+ hour, 1+ min ago  (248+ words) Hellgate Elementary Superintendent Molly Blakely in Missoula remembers when her district was hit with a proposed 18% increase in the cost of its health insurance plan. She was in her first year leading the school. "And then I sort of sat…...

2+ mon, 1+ week ago  (167+ words) The Affordable Care Act Marketplace saw record enrollment in Montana last year at a little more than 77,000 people. That's thanks in part to enhanced federal subsidies that help people afford monthly premiums for their health insurance. Those subsidies have expired…...

4+ mon, 1+ week ago  (495+ words) Lesa Evers, who's 62, is logging onto her computer to shop for her health plan on the federal marketplace. "We're going to go in and update the application," she says. Evers retired from her job with the state health department nearly…...

5+ mon, 4+ day ago  (230+ words) The federal marketplace allows people who don't get health insurance through their employer to buy their own plan. Roughly 77,000 Montanans buy that coverage. In 2021, Congress passed subsidies that help cover premiums based on a person's income. But those subsidies will…...

7+ mon, 1+ week ago  (172+ words) The Trump administration is cutting funding for insurance navigator programs by 90% at the end of August. Cover Montana used to have 18 staffers to meet Montanans in person or talk over the phone. They helped sort through public insurance options or…...

6+ mon, 3+ week ago  (205+ words) Federal rules say state Medicaid offices should process applications within 45 days. According to the latest data, 60% of April's Medicaid applications took longer. That's higher than usual, but most months, about 40% of Montana's Medicaid applications miss the federal deadline. Heather O'Loughlin…...

7+ mon, 1+ week ago  (322+ words) Montanans with marketplace health insurance plans will pay significantly more starting next year. That's because premiums are likely to spike just as federal benefits that help pay those bills expire. Insurance companies ask the federal government to approve premium rate…...