House Bill No. introduced by D. Bedey establishes the Prompt Cost Report Reimbursement Act, which aims to revise the retroactive adjustment process for cost reports submitted by critical access hospitals participating in the Montana Medicaid program. The bill mandates that the Department of Public Health and Human Services perform a tentative retroactive adjustment upon receiving a cost report from the applicable Medicare administrative contractor, ensuring that costs are accepted as reported unless there are obvious errors. It also requires the department to make an interim settlement within 240 days of receiving the cost report, with provisions for overpayments and underpayments.

Additionally, the bill includes an appropriation of $33,900 from the General Fund and $33,900 from the Federal Special Revenue Fund for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and $7,500 from each fund for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, to facilitate the settlement of these cost reports. The legislation is designed to align Montana Medicaid's reimbursement practices with those of Medicare, thereby providing timely and accurate reimbursements to critical access hospitals. The act is set to take effect immediately upon passage and approval, with retroactive applicability to cost reports submitted prior to the effective date.