City Desk

Details

Category: City Desk

• nursing homes
• Montanans age
• long-term care

By Kathleen Shannon - Producer, Contact - News

Big Sky Connection - Montana Governor Greg Gianforte is proposing a nearly 6% cut to senior long-term care, following the closure of 11 nursing homes across the state in a recent year. Industry experts say those numbers are misguided and, instead, warn communities to prepare for a wave of octogenarians. Comments by Tyler Amundsen [AMM-und-son] executive director, Big Sky Senior Services.

Click on the image for the audio. According to AARP, about 112,000 Montanans were caregivers in 2023. As nursing homes continue to close, experts predict the number will grow. (Adobe Stock)

Kathleen Shannon

March 12, 2025 - The Montana governor's proposed budget includes cuts to funding for senior long-term care. Those in the already-struggling industry said as more Montanans enter their 80s, a wider community will feel the effects.

Within the last three years, 11 of Montana's nursing homes closed in a single 12-month period. It adds pressure to those providers left, like Big Sky Senior Services in Billings, which provides payee services for over 100 people and offers in-home care for seniors on a sliding-fee scale.

Tyler Amundsen, executive director of Big Sky Senior Services, said keeping seniors in their homes as long as possible is the goal but there is usually a point where outside care becomes necessary.

"Then they're in crisis because we don't have enough places to send them," Amundsen observed. "Or the places that are available to send them aren't getting funded well. And so the quality of care is going down."

Amundsen added reimbursement rates are not keeping up with the rise of inflation. Gov. Greg Gianforte has proposed $50 million in cuts over the next biennium to senior and long-term care services via the Department of Public Health and Human Services, amounting to nearly 6%.

As there are fewer services and increased need, more people will likely become caregivers for family, which Amundsen emphasized will affect the workforce. He is predicting a trend called the "sandwich generation."

"They'll be taking care of their parents as well as their kids at the same time," Amundsen explained. "It just puts more strain on our communities to be able to do all the things we hope we can do."

He advises people and groups in the state pay attention to this rising issue now, before it worsens. Nearly 100,000 Montanans will enter their 80s this decade, nearly 70% more than did between 2010 and 2019.