Federally funded programs administered by Montana state agencies will continue as normal for at least 30 days, the governor’s office said Wednesday, after an impasse in the U.S. Senate led to the first government shutdown since 2018.
The federal government shut down at night after Republicans and Democrats in Congress failed to reach an agreement to fund operations into the new fiscal year, halting a slew of services that flow out of Washington D.C., to the rest of the country.
Services deemed essential will persist during the shutdown. Social Security and Medicare payments will still be issued and federal Medicaid reimbursements will be delivered to states. Air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration staff will report to work, though they won’t be paid until the shutdown ends. Federal law enforcement agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, will remain operational. Veterans Administration medical centers will stay open and the Indian Health Service can maintain its clinical operations.
But roughly 750,000 federal workers nationwide are furloughed and some services – like national parks – will operate with skeleton staffing.
As long as the shutdown continues, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be unable to coordinate with state health departments on opioid overdose or diabetes prevention, and it will only investigate the “most serious” allegations of patient harm at hospitals and nursing homes. Nearly 90% of the Environmental Protection Agency staff has been furloughed, pausing enforcement inspections and regulation activities.
In Montana, state agencies expect to keep federally funded programs running for at least 30 days, according to Kaitlin Price, spokesperson for Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte. No furloughs of federally funded staff are anticipated during that time.
“The Governor’s Office of Budget and Program Planning is advising state agencies to prepare for a possible shutdown in the event Washington Democrats refuse to do their job by not working with Republicans to pass a clean, short-term continuing resolution to fund the government,” Price said in an email.
Montana’s senior U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, who serves on the Senate Finance Committee, made television and radio appearances Wednesday morning to criticize Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer for refusing to compromise with the chamber’s majority on a measure that would keep the government open through Nov. 21.
“For those of us who have been here for a lot of years, I remember the shutdown in ‘13, the shutdown in ‘18. This will come to an end,” Daines said on CNBC. “But in this particular case this will come to an end when five Democrats join the rest of us and pass this temporary extension. … At the end of the day it doesn’t really deliver any political or policy objective. Let’s end the shutdown and get both sides back to the negotiating table, get the appropriations through and move forward.”
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, the state’s largest insurer, is proposing premium price hikes for next year of 23% and 33%, respectively.
Senate Democrats have made health care a sticking point in negotiations. They’ve said they won’t sign onto any agreement that doesn’t renew the pandemic-era tax credits that make health insurance purchased on the federal marketplace more affordable for millions of people. Senate Republican leadership on Monday floated a willingness to discuss extending the tax credits, but only as a separate matter from the fiscal dispute at hand.
Without congressional action, the health care subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year. Premium prices are expected to soar when they lapse, and health care experts anticipate many people will drop insurance coverage entirely if the price tag gets too high – a move that could shift more financial strain onto hospitals and the broader health care system.
More than 77,000 people in Montana purchase health insurance on the marketplace, and almost 90% receive a subsidy to help cover costs. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, the state’s largest insurer, already proposed premium price hikes of more than 20% for next year to account for anticipated increases in the cost of care.
Open enrollment on the marketplace begins Nov. 1, so Democrats say the time to act is now.
MT auditor urges Congress to renew health insurance subsidies, keep costs ‘within reach’
The last government shutdown started in December 2018 and lasted 35 days.
It’s unclear how long the current shutdown will last, but congressional leaders appear to be digging their heels in. As of Wednesday morning, the GOP- and Democratic-backed proposals to fund the government had failed to garner the 60 votes needed for passage in the Senate. Democrats also blocked a stopgap spending bill that would have kept the lights on through Nov. 21.
Montana Democratic Party Interim Director Justin Ailport issued a statement Wednesday morning criticizing the state’s all-Republican congressional delegation following the shutdown.
“Donald Trump, Senator Daines, Senator Sheehy, Congressman Zinke, and Congressman Downing refused to negotiate and ensure that healthcare expenses don’t double for Montana families, who are already struggling under Donald Trump’s economy,” Ailport said. “… Montana’s all-Republican congressional delegation doesn’t give a damn about their constituents and only cares about appeasing their king.”
Montana’s junior U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy likewise blamed Schumer for the impasse in a statement Wednesday morning.
“Chuck Schumer and the Democrats put partisan games over the best interests of the American people and shut down the government. Democrats are holding critical resources for our military, veterans, and hardworking Montana families hostage to appease their radical, far-left base. I was elected on a promise to restore common sense in our nation’s capital, and I’ll keep voting to stop the Schumer Shutdown and get back to work.”
In a letter issued to U.S. Senate leadership last week, Montana House Speaker Brandon Ler and 13 other Republicans urged federal officials to avoid the shutdown they said could impact the nation’s “security and stability.”
“Holding the federal government funding hostage is not just a Washington D.C. debate for political points,” they wrote. “It has real and immediate consequences in every state across America that cannot be overlooked.”
This story will be updated.
Carly Graf is the State Bureau health care reporter for Lee Montana.
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