Paying for Services
Government-Sponsored Programs
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Shodair Children’s Hospital contracts with state and federal government-sponsored insurance programs to provide services to its enrollees. The most common programs are:
Healthy Montana Kids Plus (Medicaid)
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A program administered by the state for persons and families with income levels near the federal poverty level. For inpatient and residential psychiatric services, there are no co-pays or deductibles.
Healthy Montana Kids (CHIP)
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The Children’s Health Insurance Program is a state-sponsored program administered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana. The program is designed to cover children of working families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid and too low to afford health insurance. For inpatient and residential psychiatric services, there is a small co-pay of $25 but no deductible.
Commercial Insurance
Shodair Children’s Hospital contracts with most commercial insurance companies in Montana, including Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana, Federal Blue Cross, New West, Allegiance, TriCare, Cigna, and United Healthcare. Shodair also participates in many health care networks through which insurance companies outside Montana contract for services.
Some insurance plans only cover acute levels of care and consider residential treatment a noncovered service. However, in many cases, insurance plans will waive this exemption and cover residential treatment if they deem the service necessary for the child’s full recovery. Contact your insurance plan prior to admittance to determine coverage for psychiatric services.
Paying Personally
If a child is not eligible for government-sponsored programs and is not covered by commercial insurance, the charges for services become the responsibility of the child’s parents or legal guardian.
Shodair Children’s Hospital realizes the cost of inpatient care can create a financial hardship; we have developed a financial assistance program offering discounts on charges based on a family’s income.
ShoCare is designed to assist Montana families without health insurance or with high deductible health insurance. Discounts range from 20 percent to 100 percent based on the family’s income and asset level. To talk to a financial counselor at Shodair, call (406) 444-7507 or toll-free (800) 447-6614. To see whether you may be eligible for a discount and apply, see our income guideline table.