HELENA, Mont. — Montana state lawmakers from both parties have shown support for a plan to stop the practice of committing people with Alzheimer’s disease, other types of dementia or traumatic brain injuries without their consent to the troubled Montana State Hospital and instead direct them to treatment in their communities.
But a budget estimate attached to the proposed legislation raises questions about whether Montana communities, many of which are still reeling from past budget cuts and insufficient Medicaid reimbursement rates, will have the capacity to care for them by July 2025, when involuntary commitments would cease under the plan.
Health department officials essentially acknowledged as much in the fiscal note accompanying House Bill 29, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Jennifer Carlson. Health officials wrote in the unsigned fiscal note that 24-hour skilled nursing facilities are often the only appropriate settings for such patients, and that few of those facilities “are willing to take these individuals as an alternative placement to the Montana State Hospital.”
