Rally attendees hold signs at a rally in support of reauthorizing Medicaid expansion at the Montana State Capitol on Jan. 15, 2025. (Micah Drew/Daily Montanan)
Chet Phillips has three children, and he’s a graduate student in social work at the University of Montana.
He and his little ones — 11, 11 and 9 — are insured through Medicaid expansion. If it weren’t for the program, set to sunset in June 2025, he believes he might be in deep debt paying for health care for his family.
Phillips also said he might not be able to pursue his social work degree. He said Montana has 80,000 people similar to him, insured through the program, and at a rally at the Capitol on Wednesday, he urged support for renewal.
“For a lot of us, it feels like we’re fish swimming upstream trying to reach a better life, a place of gentler currents for our families, but the current running against us keeps getting stronger,” Phillips said.
More than 150 people attended the rally during the second week of the 2025 Montana Legislature, which will determine whether the expansion program will sunset, continue generally as is, or continue in a different form.
Supporters at the rally said it will help families, people going to school, and those in Indian Country.
Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, will carry one expansion bill, as will Rep. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls. However, Caferro said support will require Montanans to text, call and email, as they did in 2023 to raise Medicaid provider reimbursement rates.
Caferro, who told the crowd they made her emotional, started her remarks with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is,’What are you doing for others?”
She said the participants who were holding signs and chanting were answering that question.
“Are you ready to do it again?” Caferro said.
The crowd chanted, “lift the sunset,” and people held signs that said, “Save Medicaid, Save Lives,” and “Keep Montana Healthy.”
At least one Medicaid expansion bill, Senate Bill 62, to provide for a phaseout of the program, is scheduled for a hearing next Tuesday. The bills to support expansion, from Caferro and Buttrey are expected to be heard in the coming weeks.
Mark Spring, a senior citizen from Missoula, said he attended the rally because Medicaid is vital to his survival. Spring said it saves him $188 a month from his Social Security, and it helps other seniors he knows, too.
“It is vital to the health of every age group, from healthy kids to seniors,” Spring said.
Reauthorized in 2019, Medicaid expansion made the program available to more Montanans with low incomes, or up to 138% of the federal poverty level.
The federal government pays the bulk of the cost, roughly 90% of expansion.
Some opponents believe the program is too costly, and some worry the state will get saddled with the full cost of Medicaid if the federal government makes cuts.
According to the Montana Healthcare Foundation, the federal government pays 79% of all of Montana’s Medicaid budget.