January 9, 2026

The President’s Message is published in the MHA Weekly News Report, a member-only publication of the Montana Hospital Association. To subscribe, click here.

Over the past week, I’ve been reminded just how important it is for Montana hospitals to show up—with our business and legislative partners, in regulatory processes, and in national policy conversations.

Earlier this week, I participated in a workforce development panel at the Montana Chamber of Commerce’s Business Days at the Capitol, an annual gathering that brings together the business community, legislators and state leaders to focus on public policy issues shaping Montana’s economy. Our discussion reinforced a reality many of us are experiencing firsthand: careers are no longer linear, and workforce solutions must evolve just as quickly as the economy and the people in it.

From a healthcare perspective, there is no single solution to workforce shortages. We must continue to strengthen the pipeline by engaging students earlier, creating opportunities for them to earn credentials and college credit while still in high school, and expanding career awareness that shows healthcare offers far more than traditional clinical roles. There is some excellent work already being done in these areas by Montana’s five regional Area Health Education Centers (AHECs), two of which are hosted and operated by MHA’s foundation, the Montana Health Research and Education Foundation (MHREF). Our goal is to expand that work under the Rural Health Transformation Program.

We also need to retain our current workforce by supporting career growth and career changes that can happen in place through apprenticeships, stackable credentials, and career ladders. Just as important, hospitals must continue evolving as workplaces—embracing flexibility, technology, and innovation to meet the expectations of a changing workforce. We’re pleased to see some exceptional programming coming from the Montana Department of Labor and Industry to support hospitals’ own efforts in this space.

The Montana hospitals that have invested in chamber membership have helped ensure healthcare issues are also seen as business issues. I am grateful to hospital leaders Cherie Taylor (President, Logan Health-Cut Bank and Logan Health-Chester) and Adam Schafer (Intermountain Health) who serve on the Montana Chamber Board of Directors, and ensure the healthcare perspective is in every board discussion. The voice of the business community was key with the lifting the sunset on Medicaid expansion, and will continue to be important with the other shared issues we face.

But that wasn’t all that happened this week. On Wednesday MHA submitted a letter to the Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance regarding implementation of House Bill 740, passed by the 2025 Montana Legislature. While the bill was intended to support independent pharmacies through enhanced payments from pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), PBMs have instead elected to treat the new fees as co-pays thereby placing the new fees entirely on the patient. This has increased out-of-pocket costs, undermined hospital-operated independent pharmacies, and threatens access to medications—especially in rural communities where an independent pharmacy may be the only option. We urged the Commissioner to use his rulemaking authority to ensure the dispensing fee is paid by PBMs, not patients, and to correct practices that clearly run counter to legislative intent.

We’re also closely tracking important developments on the 340B drug pricing program at the national level. This week, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the federal government’s request to reinstate the Department of Health and Human Services’ 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program, leaving the program on hold. The court recognized that hospitals would face irreparable harm if the program were implemented during ongoing litigation. This is an important decision for the more than two-thirds of Montana hospitals who utilize the program to ensure affordable access to prescription drugs and services for vulnerable patients and communities.

Whether engaging the business community, advocating in rulemaking, or defending critical programs like 340B, MHA will continue showing up for our members.