A made-in Montana health insurance program aimed at helping small businesses cover their employees is seeking money from the general fund to continue operation.
Some members of the Senate Finance Committee question the expenditure since these workers could also get insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Insure Montana was created before the ACA became law. The intent was to help small businesses in Montana, initially those with nine or fewer employees, provide health insurance for their workers.
In exchange, the state gave a tax credit or premium incentive and assistance payments to those employers who pay at least 50 percent of the premium for their employees. That credit is set to sunset next year.
Jesse Laslovich is the chief legal counsel for the state Insurance Commissioner. He says about 1,000 businesses are using Insure Montana and it's covering about 6,000 people, employees and their families.
"It’s a program, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, that has worked, that has worked very well, that has been a Montana solution to all of the confusion that has come from the federal government. It’s about Main Street Montana and its about helping our workers as part of their employment," Laslovich said.
Originally, Senate Bill 99 sought to seek federal dollars to cover its costs, but that idea was rejected in committee. Because of the nearly $12 million hit to the state’s General Fund, it was sent to the Senate Finance and Claims committee to consider its fiscal ramifications.
And that brought a series of questions from Senator Mary Caferro. The Democrat from Helena wanted to know why employees didn’t migrate from Insure Montana to the marketplace to shop for insurance coverage created as part of the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as ObamaCare.
Laslovich answered, "I know your argument is, 'there is no need for insure Montana anymore for the same reason'. We would argue that because it’s a state-run program that’s been successful and small businesses are utilizing it in a resounding way that we wanted to keep the opportunity for them to provide insurance to their employees through Insure Montana available."
Insure Montana does have a waiting list. About 175 businesses are on that list.
Laslovich was asked why he thinks Montana employers have not pushed their employees to get their coverage through the ACA. Laslovich says he didn’t know, only that the office has had some conversations with business owners and that they didn’t feel comfortable sending their workers to the exchange.
"And if I can say, Mr. Chairman, for me it’s a hell of a lot easier working with the state than the federal government."
He also says these small businesses are seeking a continuation of Insure Montana for the consistency and predictability of the tax credits they’re currently receiving to provide that health insurance. Laslovich says questions remain about the future of the ACA.
No one spoke against Senate Bill 99.
The measure already has won approval in the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee. If it passes the Senate Finance and Claims Committee it would go to the full Senate for consideration.
