Locals defend Insure Montana

Due to budget restrictions, 152 businesses in the Flathead Valley and even more across the state face losing the ability to provide health insurance to their employees through the Insure Montana program. Bigfork’s Mike Callaghan and Peter Leander testified in Helena last Tuesday alongside several other business owners who are urging the state to keep Insure Montana running.

“The reason it is important is because it allows my employees to have preventative health care to stay healthy and have less stress in their lives and be more productive and lead a better life,” Callaghan said. “From a business person’s perspective, it helps me compete for employees because I can offer similar benefit programs that larger businesses typically do, and it helps me retain employees because we have a well-rounded benefit package.”

Insure Montana is a two-part program meant to make health benefits more affordable for small employers and their employees through either a tax credit or purchasing pool program that was authorized in the 2005 state legislative session to be funded by tobacco tax revenue.

Tobacco taxes were able to fund Insure Montana after Initiative 149 passed with 63 percent in favor in 2004. This raised state tobacco taxes by 140 percent, which also funded additional enrollment in the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, increased Medicaid services and provider rates, and the prescription drug program Big Sky Rx.

“If you fund Insure Montana you will have less on Medicaid and less that need reimbursement,” Leander said. “You are paying upfront to save you from paying Medicaid and reimbursement down the road because the insurance will cover those things.”

Callaghan estimated this program covers about 8,000 residents. However, the state needs to restore $20 million to keep the program going.

Current eligibility requirements for businesses to participate in Insure Montana include: having two to nine full-time employees, all employees must earn under $75,000 per year from the business, and have no delinquent tax credits.

There are currently 300 businesses on the waiting list to participate in Insure Montana under its current requirements, but those requirements could soon change to be more inclusive if the funding is made available.

If Senate Bill 27 passes, it would make it possible for businesses with up to 25 employees to participate in Insure Montana.

House Bill 48 brings additional potential changes to Insure Montana such as removing the $75,000 per year requirement and excluding employees who make more than 400 percent of the poverty level without disqualifying the business.

“The key thing to remember about Insure Montana is that it is a state-based solution to the rising cost of health insurance and has nothing to do with Obamacare,” Lucas Hamilton, communications director for the Commissioner of Insurance, said.

According to Hamilton, this simply allows more businesses to participate, but would not be required and wouldn’t add any additional costs. But declining revenue from the tobacco tax account has made the 2004 plan structurally imbalanced.

“That is part of the budget office’s reasoning for cutting it, but we would argue that it needs to be funded one way or another, whether through the tobacco tax or the general fund,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton said it is difficult to determine exactly when the budget will be finalized, along with the future of Insure Montana, but the budget is anticipated for review by the state senate around the end of the month.

Hamilton also said negotiations are underway to keep the program funded through Fiscal Year 2015. By keeping the program going through 2015 the state will have answers about the upcoming health insurance exchanges.

The Affordable Health Care Act authorized two exchanges for Montana, the Small Business Health Options (SHOP) Exchange and the Individual Market Exchange. The SHOP exchange is for small businesses to purchase group benefit plans and the IME is for individuals and families to purchase policies from private insurers.

But until more is known about SHOP and IME, small business owners who use Insure Montana believe it is premature to eliminate the program.

“The main point is that it is an important tool for businesses to attract and retain quality employees…Removing this program from our set of tools that we are using to provide quality jobs doesn’t make sense,” Callaghan said. “The other point is small business owners feel that it is their duty to provide healthcare to their employees, and Insure Montana allows many to do that.”