SB 522 Montana Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Generally revise medicaid laws to reduce or eliminate waiting lists

SB 522 aimed to reduce or eliminate waiting lists for Medicaid-covered services in Montana by requiring the Department of Health to implement funding changes, apply for federal waivers, and prioritize services like senior care, behavioral health, and dental care. It mandated annual reports tracking waiting list sizes, ongoing efforts to address them, and projected elimination dates. The bill died in committee on May 23, 2025, without becoming law. It did not alter existing Medicaid eligibility but focused on administrative and programmatic solutions to service access delays.
Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 26, 2025 Last action May 23, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

LC2803.pdf SB0522_1.pdf · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was renumbered from LC 2803 to SB 522.1, indicating a shift from a legislative committee draft to a formal Senate bill. The primary substantive change is the expansion of priority services for reducing Medicaid waiting lists to include behavioral health, dental services, and family education support, in addition to the previously listed senior and long-term care services. This broadens the department's focus to address a wider range of critical healthcare access barriers.
Scope change
The bill's scope expanded to include behavioral health, dental services, and family education and support services as priority areas for reducing waiting lists.
TECHNICAL

The bill identifier changed from LC 2803 to SB 522.1, reflecting its progression through the legislative process.

REQUIREMENT

Added behavioral health, dental services, and family education and support services to the list of priority areas for reducing Medicaid waiting lists.

Added a specific reference to the developmental disabilities program's 0208 Medicaid waiver as a priority service area.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
19
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Amendments
1
Mar 4, 2025
Amended
(S) Tabled in Committee - (S) Public Health, Welfare and Safety
upper
Feb 27, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Public Health, Welfare and Safety
upper
Feb 26, 2025
Introduced
(S) Introduced
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Chris Pope
Chris Pope
DDemocratic
MT
33