Measures expanding Medicaid to be negotiated
State Director Riley Johnson reports from Helena on the small-business agenda for the legislative week ending March 22
It was a slow week for action on some 700-plus bills as lawmakers concentrated on money bills and the two-year state budget. This means next week is going to be very busy. The deadline for transmittal of money and revenue bills is Monday, April 1. The deadline for general bills transmittal has passed.
Legislators were concentrating their attention on getting the budget drafted so they can decide how much money they have in revenue and how much to spend on the remaining general bills.
Phone Tax
For example, House Bill 618, commented on in last week’s report, would add a 95-cents-per-month tax to every landline and cell phone in Montana to fund a national program for public safety communications. It was heard March 14, but no action has been taken by the House Tax Committee. NFIB vigorously opposed this bill because it felt that a statewide program should be funded by statewide revenue, not by singling out a select group to pay for it.
State Sales Tax
Another bill awaiting action in committees is the highly controversial HB 300. This is the 2½ percent statewide sales tax bill by Rep. Kerry White (R) of Bozeman. It sits in the House Tax Committee awaiting committee action. The hearing on HB 300 was way back on February 6.
Medicaid
Two bills awaiting committee action include HB 425 by Rep. Mary Caferro (D) of Helena and HB 658 by Rep. Ed Buttry (R) of Great Falls that would expand Medicaid for some 96,000, lower-income Montanans. The current expanded Medicaid law sunsets the end of June, 2019.
Representative Caferro’s bill changes very little of the existing law. Under our current law, the work requirements were eliminated by rule. Her bill would increase the fee hospitals are currently paying of $50 per inpatient bed day to $70 and then add a .95 percent tax on their outpatient revenue. Here is the link to the actual text and to the fiscal note.
Representative Buttrey’s bill adds a requirement of 80 hours of community engagement per month if the recipient is below the 100 percent of poverty and is not disabled, or over the age of 59. Going to work, school, looking for a job, substance abuse treatment, or corrections programs all count toward the hours. They are exempt if they have a child under 5 or are taking care of a disabled child or adult. They are also exempt if they are pregnant and the doctor recommends no work or they are up to 60 days post-partum.
His bill adds:
- a requirement to complete a health risk and employment readiness assessment, but doesn’t a really define either of these
- a new section that limits health care provider negligence claims
- a health service corporation fee of 1 percent of the premium income
- an employer grant program to encourage hiring and training of Medicaid participants but does not define how much of the HELP Act revenue is to be used for this program
Current law has what is termed a “taxpayer integrity fee.” It says that if a participant has assets that exceed a primary residence and attached property (with some limits), one light vehicle and a total of $50,000 in cash or cash equivalent, he or she will pay $100 per month plus an additional $4 a month for each $1000 of assets exceeding these limits.
Representative Buttrey’s bill proposes to add agricultural land in excess of taxable value of $1,500; more vehicles if they do not total over $20,000 in value. The additional $4 is still applied for each $1,000 in excess, except for agricultural land, where it is $4 for each $100 of taxable value. His bill also increases the hospital fee of $50 for inpatient beds to $70 and creates the tax on outpatient revenue. However, his rate is less at .825% of revenue.
Representative Buttrey’s bill removes the currently required co-pay. He does change the premiums from a flat 2 percent of their modified adjusted gross income to a sliding scale based on time. It is 2 percent the first two years of participation and then increases by .5 percent each year up to 5 percent of their income. He adds a Montana residency requirement that is not currently in law.
Now the tough part – Buttrey would fund this with a 2.75 percent premium tax on State Fund Worker’s Compensation. He has indicated that he is working on changes that may allow this to be integrated into existing premiums without a line item surcharge. Here is the link to the bill: The fiscal note is not finished for this bill.
As you likely read in the press, the hearings lasted well over seven hours last Saturday. It was estimated that about 400 people were in attendance. While most of the health business community testified in favor of both bills, many of the social work groups were opposed to the work requirements laid out in Senator Buttrey’s bill. The committee will now begin working on amendments and determine which bill to send forward to the House floor for full debate.
Wage and Benefits Discussions
Other activity this past week included a Senate hearing on House Bill 547 on Wednesday on March 20. This would allow employees to openly discuss wages and benefits without the approval of the employer. This bill passed the House 52-47 and went to the Senate.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Hearings will be held next week on SB 234 that would allow state government to bid the workers’ compensation insurance for some 16,000 state workers with private insurance companies or even self-insure, rather than having to use the Montana State Fund as its workers’ compensation carrier. This hearing is set for Tuesday, March 26.
Tax Credit
Also, SB 702 will be heard on Thursday, March 28. This bill would give a tax credit to certain persons that invest in new or expanding businesses.
Getting Involved
Getting involved in the 2019 Legislature is easy. The best way to have your voice heard quickly is to phone 406-444-4800. Operators are on hand in the Capitol Building to take messages for up to five legislators on each call, and delivery is within a half hour. For those wanting more information on locating legislators, getting a personal e-mail address, looking to view committee meetings and floor sessions on television or over computers, and just to review all hearings and reading of the actual bills can go to www.leg.mt.gov and access everything electronically.
Previous Reports From the Capitol
