Montana seeking prior authorization for Medicaid abortions

FILE - Protesters fill the Montana state Capitol rotunda in Helena, Mont., on Feb. 11, 2015, during a rally to show support in an attempt to change the Montana Constitution to define life as beginning at conception. State officials in Republican-controlled Montana want to require prior authorization before its health department pays for abortions for people covered by Medicaid, a proposal critics say would reduce access and delay or even prevent abortion care for low-income women in a state. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File) FILE - Protesters fill the Montana state Capitol rotunda in Helena, Mont., on Feb. 11, 2015, during a rally to show support in an attempt to change the Montana Constitution to define life as beginning at conception. State officials in Republican-controlled Montana want to require prior authorization before its health department pays for abortions for people covered by Medicaid, a proposal critics say would reduce access and delay or even prevent abortion care for low-income women in a state. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)

By AMY BETH HANSON / Associated Press January 12, 2023 4 min read

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — State officials in Republican-controlled Montana want to require prior authorization before its health department pays for abortions for people covered by Medicaid, a proposal critics say would reduce access and delay or even prevent abortion care for low-income women in the state.

The Department of Public Health and Human Services is taking public comment Thursday on the proposed rule to require doctors to provide more medical information before Medicaid would agree to pay for an abortion to save a woman’s life or any other medically necessary reason. The information would include the number of her pregnancies and children.

Montana is one of 16 states whose Medicaid program is required to cover the costs of “medically necessary” abortions based on state law or a court order, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

A 2019 federal report said seven states at that time, which were not listed, required prior authorization before Medicaid would cover abortion services.