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Committee adopts customer‑service bill for Medicaid, removes OPA office reopenings in amendment
Summary
House Bill 885, aimed at modernizing Medicaid customer service — online applications, text/email notices, hotline wait‑time indicators, a 60% ex‑parte target and plain‑language forms — passed the committee after a conceptual amendment removed the section requiring reopening 10 Offices of Public Assistance and reduced the appropriation; supporters cited long wait times, coverage gaps and rural access barriers.
The House Health and Human Services Committee passed House Bill 885 after adopting a conceptual amendment that removed the bill’s original requirement to reopen 10 Offices of Public Assistance (OPA) and cut the appropriation. The revised measure focuses on modernizing Medicaid customer service.
Representative SJ Howell, sponsor of HB 885, told the committee the bill would allow online applications with uploads, permit DPHHS to communicate by text and email when applicants supply contact details, require the public assistance hotline to display estimated wait times and to offer callbacks, and set a target ex‑parte redetermination rate of 60 percent to reduce paperwork‑related loss of coverage. The opening also asked for plain‑language notices and expanded reporting to the legislative children and families interim committee on implementation.
Witnesses described severe operational problems during recent redeterminations. Testimony from Ability Montana and other service providers recounted clients waiting hours on hold or traveling long distances to closed OPA offices and suffering coverage interruptions that delayed medications or services. The Montana Budget and Policy Center presented comparative CMS data showing Montana’s processing times lagging national averages and low ex‑parte rates.
The committee debated the bill’s scope and funding: sponsor and proponents argued that online tools and improved communications would reduce phone volume and help rural residents, while several members urged that reopening OPA offices remains an important goal. A conceptual amendment was adopted removing the mandatory reopening of 10 OPA offices and reducing the appropriation to $200,000 for the biennium; supporters said that preserved the core customer‑service provisions while making the bill more likely to clear procedural thresholds and advance.
Following the amendment, the committee unanimously passed HB 885 as amended (roll call recorded 21–0 on the final passage). The bill will now move to the next legislative stage. Proponents urged further attention to remote and in‑person access as implementation details are worked out.
