Montana Inks Small Business Health Insurance Contract
Montana sealed a deal with the state’s largest health insurer Thursday to offer affordable group coverage to small businesses that enroll in a new insurance pool.
The pool is part of a $13 million state program called “Insure Montana” and is designed to help Montanans who lack health insurance. One in five state residents do not have coverage, and about half of that population works for a small business, State Auditor John Morrison said.
“It’s bad for their health and bad for everyone’s pocketbooks,” he said.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana inked a contract with the state to provide two health policies and dental coverage through the insurance pool, which helps businesses qualify for lower premiums through mass buying power.
The plans are “designed to be affordable for Montana families while at the same time providing excellent benefits,” Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Sherry Cladouhos said.
In recent months, more than 1,000 small businesses have applied to participate. The program is offered on a first-come, first-served based as money is available. Initial funding will cover participation by about 900 businesses.
The program has two parts.
The first is a state income-tax credit, $100 to $125 per employee per month, offered to small businesses that already provide health insurance to employees. Several hundred businesses will be authorized to take part, starting this year.
Small businesses that do not offer health insurance can buy it from the health insurance pool. The state will offer premium subsidies to businesses and their workers who get insurance through the pool.
Subsidies will be $102 a month for employee-only coverage, $175 for an employee and spouse and $490 for an employee and a family with two children.
“Reducing the number of uninsured Montanans has been my top priority since I took office in 2001,” Morrison said. “It is very gratifying to see the wheels put into motion. Coverage will now be a reality for hundreds of previous uninsured Montanans.”
Kate Wilson, chairwoman of the Insure Montana Governing Board, said she sees the need for such a program every day at Cooperative Health Center, a Helena facility that she heads. It offers basic medical and dental care primarily to people lacking other access to such services.
About 70 percent of the center’s clients have no insurance, and many people need financial help to get their own health coverage, Wilson said.
“There’s no way an individual can afford to buy a good health insurance product,” she said.
The 2005 Legislature approved the program. It is financed by increased state tobacco taxes that voters approved in 2004. Initiative 149 directed that part of the higher taxes pay for tax credits to subsidize health insurance for small businesses.