Shutdown to have ‘devastating consequences,’ Montana nurses say

The Montana Nurses Association said the failure to extend subsidies through the Affordable Care Act and protect funding for Medicaid in the federal shutdown will have “devastating consequences” for families and communities in the state.

“When the government shuts down, Montana suffers,” said Vicky Byrd, CEO of the Montana Nurses Association, in a statement. “Our nurses and health care providers are already stretched thin.

“This shutdown will make it harder to deliver care, to access care, to keep rural hospitals and clinics open, and to ensure patients get the treatment they deserve and need.”

Early Wednesday, the federal government started shutting down after the U.S. Senate failed to advance short-term funding measures before midnight. An estimated 750,000 federal workers could be furloughed at an impact of $400 million a day, according to States Newsroom’s Washington, D.C., Bureau.

Open enrollment for people who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace starts Nov. 1, and premiums could double in 2026 if enhanced tax credits in the ACA expire at the end of this year as scheduled, the D.C. Bureau reported, citing an analysis by health policy research organization KFF.

In a news release, the Montana Nurses Association said 47,000 Montanans rely on ACA coverage, they are facing an average premium increase of $5,900 a year, and older adults in rural areas will experience an even more severe impact.

The total premium in Montana was not immediately available Wednesday morning, but a national KFF analysis found premiums were expected to more than double on average, from $888 this year to $1,904 in 2026, according to States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau.

A married couple in Helena could see premiums rise by nearly $19,764 annually, the Montana Nurses Association said.

In a phone call with the Daily Montanan, Montana Nurses Association Vicky Byrd said repealing ACA subsidies and gutting Medicaid puts rural hospitals and clinics in vulnerable financial positions.

Without continued Medicaid support, hospitals could lose up to 50% of their uncompensated care funding, forcing them to cut services or close, the Montana Nurses Association said.

“You don’t know how long it’s going to take, but once these rural hospitals and clinics go bankrupt, there’s no bringing them back,” Byrd said. “There goes jobs. There goes my nurses’ jobs. There goes our providers for these rural communities. Now, (patients) are going to have to drive miles and miles.”

She said some people won’t seek care at all, and they’ll end up even more sick and land in the emergency room as a result, where medical costs will be even steeper.

In the news release, the Montana Nurses Association urged the state’s Congressional delegation to “stand up for Montana values and protect healthcare, restore funding, and reopen the government.

“We call on President (Donald) Trump and Congressional Republicans to work with Democrats to find a solution that puts people over politics,” the association said.

The political standoff had Democrats blocking a temporary government funding bill by Republicans, arguing a solution needs to include an extension of tax credits in the Affordable Care Act. But Democrats didn’t have support to pass a bill of their own.

Republican U.S. Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy of Montana supported a GOP measure to fund the government for seven weeks, but they opposed the Democratic bid to continue funding for a month with extensions for health care provisions, States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau reported.

Neither the Republican bill nor Democratic proposal to avert the shutdown received the needed 60 votes to pass, the D.C. Bureau reported.