Medicaid expansion in Montana is set to sunset in 2025, and removing that coverage could limit affordable healthcare in the state, Logan Health President and CEO Craig Lambrecht, MD, said in an Oct. 31 Daily Inter Lake report.
Any loss of Medicaid expansion could result in significant changes in services, he warned.
"Medicaid expansion is probably the biggest thing on the forefront," Mr. Lambrecht told a conference. "We have to have a relationship with the legislature, and we've got to have a relationship with our communities, because in the event that that goes away, it's going to be a very different world providing services."
The threat of losing Medicaid expansion coincides with rising healthcare costs for local people, he added. The integration of Kalispell-based Logan Health and Billings (Mont.) Clinic Sept. 1 can also help with making care more affordable.
"The reality of healthcare now is if you don't have a real strategy and if you don't figure out ways to find efficiencies, everything from the billing to delivery, specialty care, coordinated care, throughout a large area, you're going to have a heck of a time being successful," Dr. Lambrecht said.