Montana Becomes First State to Let a Private Insurer Run Medicaid Expansion

Montana health officials have signed a two-year contract worth more than $16 million making Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana the first commercial insurance provider to administer a state's Medicaid expansion program under President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act.

 

Department of Public Health and Human Services Director Richard Opper and Blue Cross President Mike Frank signed the contract Wednesday, and it was released to The Associated Press on Thursday. The contract can be renewed for up to seven years.

 

In November, Montana became the 30th state to expand Medicaid to the working poor under the health care law when federal health officials approved a waiver for features that include requiring beneficiaries to pay premiums and copayments. Another feature that required federal approval was the state's decision to use a private insurer to run the expansion program, the first third-party administrator in the nation.