HELENA – A district court judge ordered the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services to temporarily stop cuts to the reimbursement rates paid to Montana’s nursing and assisted-living homes for Medicaid patients.
The temporary restraining order filed Wednesday will effectively halt the 2.99 percent cuts proposed by the Bullock administration that went into effect Jan. 1, and require the state to resume paying the old rate.
According to the judge’s order, the state will have to pay the old rates for at least the remainder of the state fiscal year 2018, which ends June 30.
Montana’s nursing and assisted-living homes had filed suit this week against the cuts, saying DPHHS didn’t explain its rationale for the cuts or give home operators a chance to “meaningfully participate” in setting of the rates.
