Report: Montana Medicaid reduced ER visits, charity care, leaned into telehealth

A groundbreaking study released Thursday showed that many of Montana’s greatest hopes about how Medicaid expansion could benefit the state have turned out to be true, and in some cases, better than expected.

The report, commissioned by the Montana Healthcare Foundation, conducted by Manatt Health, demonstrated that reliance on emergency room for medical care fell significantly, hospitals and healthcare systems saw the amount of uncompensated charity care drop, and the state spent less of its funds than neighboring or comparable states on healthcare...