Abortion bills heard, including to require prior authorization for Medicaid patients
Medicaid covers abortions only under specific conditions where the life of the mother is endangered, the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest or the abortion is deemed medically necessary.
To be medically necessary, the bill says the patient would have to present:
a physical condition that would be significantly aggravated by the pregnancy; or
a severe mental illness or intellectual disability that would be significantly aggravated by the pregnancy.
There were no proponents for House Bill 544 and 10 opponents, including abortion providers and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which represents the majority of OB/GYNs in the state
Opponents said the bill would impede access to abortion to an already vulnerable population and chips away at abortion rights in the state, protected under the state Supreme Court’s decision in Armstrong v. State.
Dr. Timothy Mitchell, an OB/GYN with a specialty in maternal fetal medicine, said Montana was 6th in pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. and that number is seven times higher for Native women in the state.
“Delaying medically necessary abortions will only make this crisis worse,” he said. “The determination on whether a service is medically necessary is patient specific and should be made by a trained medical provider.”
Mitchell said it was unclear in the bill language if fetal anomalies would be covered, making it so patients would have to carry the pregnancy to term, risking complications for the patient.
“If passed, this bill will lead to litigation and will be enjoined, ultimately opening the state to even more financial liability, including the potential of paying attorneys fees,” said Robin Turner, with the ACLU of Montana.
Quinn Leighton, with Planned Parenthood, said abortions are time sensitive procedures, so adding prior authorization requirements would be harmful, especially as people sometimes have to take off work and travel hundreds of miles just to access a clinic.
Gillette said that prior authorization is commonplace for various procedures and cited at least one insurance company that required prior authorization for patients for medically necessary abortions.
Rep. Laurie Bishop, D-Livingston, though, questioned if these standards were consistent with requirements for other procedures.
“If somebody had an issue with their gallbladder and had to have it removed, would you be asking about their behavioral health issues?” Livingston said.