Administration readies Medicaid payment reductions

HELENA — The Schweitzer administration is preparing to cut Medicaid payments to medical providers as much as 6 percent if the Republican legislative majority gets its way with proposed budget cuts.

The cuts are still part of negotiations between Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who is resisting them, and Republican legislative leaders.

Lee Newspapers State Bureau reports that administrative rules being drafted would hit hospitals, nursing homes, group homes and other providers of medical and disability services to the poor.

Providers say the cuts would make a bad budget situation worse for scores of private, mostly nonprofit organizations that take care of the needy.

The Department of Public Health and Human Services says the new rules are not complete because the budget process is not final.

Medicaid covers about 100,000 people in Montana.