Montana's governor is urging lawmakers to reconsider their refusal of federal funding for electronic healthcare technology. Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-Mont.) says rejecting the incentive money will increase healthcare costs and decrease jobs.

Montana hospitals and doctors are eligible to receive an estimated $35 million in federal funding for meeting meaningful use of electronic health records under the HITECH Act. The state has 47 critical access hospitals in smaller communities across the state, and almost all will likely qualify for the funding, according to the governor.

However, the Montana legislature has denied the state's Department of Health and Humans Services (DPHHS) the authority to accept and distribute the money to hospitals four times on party-line votes – making it the only state to do so. The authority failed to go into House Bill 2 – which passed the House March 14 on a party-line vote.

[See also:  GOP-sponsored bill threatens MU funding]

The governor says the legislature has cut about $131 million in state and federal funding from the DPHHS budget, and removing this additional money from the healthcare sector together would result in an estimated loss of 1,886 Montana jobs.

Schweitzer said the removal of  healthcare sector funding will result in an estimated loss of 504 Montana jobs.

"The legislature has stalled and delayed and now, even if they decided to give the department authority, we are not sure the money will be available," said Schweitzer.

"If Montana rejects the money, it will be distributed to other states, and Montana providers would be left holding the bag, requiring them to use their own funds for the technology or be left behind," he said. "This harms patients and drives up costs. Electronic health record systems save money and improve care through eliminating the need for duplicative testing."

[See also: Blumenthal hails the 'era of meaningful use' ]

The DPHHS budget was slated for a hearing March 18  at 8 a.m. before the state's Senate Finance and Claims Committee.