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Montana bill would eliminate automatic malpractice and MMLP reports to licensing boards
Summary
A bill sponsored by Representative Valerie Moore would remove mandatory insurer and Montana Medical Legal Panel reporting to occupational licensing boards, aiming to reduce administrative burden and focus investigations on complaints initiated by patients.
Representative Valerie Moore introduced House Bill 442 to the Senate Judiciary Committee, seeking to end two mandatory reporting requirements that the Department of Labor and Industry says create redundant paperwork without useful investigatory detail.
The bill would remove a statutory requirement that malpractice insurers notify licensing boards when a claim is filed and would also remove a mandate that the Montana Medical Legal Panel (MMLP) send only its case outcome “ballot” to the Department and boards after an MMLP proceeding. The department and hospital representatives said the current reports are one‑page notices that give licensing staff little substantive information and trigger time‑consuming administrative processes.
Why it matters: Proponents said the change would direct limited licensing resources toward complaints with substantive allegations rather than processing de minimis notices. Representative Moore said the bill is intended to “promote administrative simplification by eliminating unnecessary reporting requirements.”
Department of Labor and Industry officials told the committee that Montana already has a public complaint intake process—online and by phone—through which citizens can submit complaints containing the substance needed for an investigation. Sarah Swanson, Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry, said nearly 200,000 Montanans hold occupational licenses administered by the department and that insurer notices and MMLP ballots “don't do anything that we can investigate.” Quinlan O'Connor, chief legal counsel for the department, told senators insurers initially report claims with minimal detail because reporting occurs early in claims processing; he said the more meaningful report to licensing boards continues to arrive through the federally run National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) when malpractice payments are made.
Hospital and provider groups backed the change. Heather O'Hara, vice president at the Montana Hospital Association, and Aden Myhre of Billings Clinic told the committee that automatic reporting can feel like double jeopardy for licensees while consuming board resources. Dr. Kevin Ross, a family physician who described having gone through an MMLP proceeding and later receiving a department notice that suggested potential further action, said the duplicate reporting had been worrisome to him.
Committee discussion and process notes: Senators asked how citizens who want oversight could proceed; department witnesses said the public can file complaints directly at licensingcomplaints.mt.gov and that boards remain the “backstop” with screening panels and administrative hearings. Committee members also pressed the department on staffing trends: the commissioner said the state has more licensees than a decade ago but fewer staff, and described the bill as one way to prioritize investigation workload.
No formal votes were recorded in the hearing. The bill closed with Representative Moore asking for a do‑pass recommendation.
