Medicaid coverage at its highest level ever in Montana, October 13, 2010, Billings Gazette: “Medicaid, the state-federal program that pay medical bills for the poor and disabled, covers about 99,600 people in Montana – its highest level ever. The economic recession has swelled the ranks of the program, which is one of the largest single expenditures in the state budget. For the 2010-11 biennium, the Legislature budgeted $1.75 billion for Medicaid, or nearly $900 million a year. The state covers anywhere from one-fourth to one-third of the cost. Most Medicaid spending is on aged people, including those in nursing homes, disabled people, pregnant women, children and families with dependent children. They qualify if their income is under certain levels…”
Tag: Montana
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Enrollment – Montana
Requests for food aid up 50% in past 2 years, By Susan Olp, September 10, 2010, Billings Gazette: “As if additional proof was needed of the sagging economy’s effect, more people than ever are seeking help to supplement their food budget. That’s true for the nation as a whole, as well as in the state and locally. The number of people enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — formerly the Food Stamp program — has steadily increased in the past two years. ‘There is more usage of this subsidy program than there has been in history,’ said Linda Snedigar, administrator for the Human and Community Services Division of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. She recently attended a conference titled ‘SNAP Makes History,’ underlining that fact. As unemployment has steadily increased, so has the number of people enrolling in the federally funded SNAP program, Snedigar said. ‘Over the last two years we’ve seen almost a 50 percent increase in the number of people receiving SNAP in Montana,’ she said. That’s about one person for every eight in the state, Snedigar said. In August 2006, the number of recipients in Montana receiving benefits through SNAP totaled 81,717. That number dipped to 81,240 in 2008 and then climbed to 118,958 in 2010…”
Food Stamp Program Enrollment – Montana
Food stamp stampede, By Alana Listoe, August 22, 2010, Helena Independent Record: “Halfway through the month, Scott Crooks had $8.94 left in food stamps, and after a trip to the grocery store on Thursday to buy some ground beef, just $3.33 remained. It wasn’t a difficult decision to buy beef. The 24-year-old AmeriCorps Vista had ingredients at home to make tacos and spaghetti, thus making it possible to split the meat and use it for both meals, stretching his food a few more days. Crooks isn’t alone. More Montana citizens receive federal assistance to pay for their groceries than ever before. Some use the help to feed their children. Many are on a fixed income due to a disability. Others, like Crooks, work but don’t earn enough to buy basic necessities, so they use food stamps to bridge the gap. The number of recipients has climbed steadily every month for the past two years, with 12 percent of the state population receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. That’s about 3 percent higher than it was two years ago at this same time…”