16 Reasons To Support The Healthy Montana Plan

Montana has an opportunity to bring our tax dollars back to the state to extend coverage to 70,000 of our friends, neighbors, and family members. Governor Bullock has put forward the Healthy Montana Plan to do just that. Below are just a few of the reasons to support the Healthy Montana Plan. Contact your legislator at 444-4800 and tell them all the reasons your support the Healthy Montana Plan! And join us for the hearing on March 6th at the Montana Capitol.

1. 70,000 Currently Uninsured Montanans Will Have Access to Health Coverage

By accepting federal dollars, the Healthy Montana Plan will extend coverage to roughly 70,000 Montanans who are currently uninsured. These are folks who work hard but can't afford coverage.. Any Montanan with 138% of the federal poverty level or lower would qualify for health insurance under the Healthy Montana Plan.

2. Throws a Lifeline to Montana's Critical Access Hospitals

Teton Medical Center / Via tetonmedicalcenter.net

Small, rural hospitals are part of the fabric of many Montana communities. They provide both critical and preventative health care to their residents, who often live long distances from urban areas.

These hospitals are struggling to keep their doors open due to the crushing cost of uncompensated care. These hospitals provide care for their residents, but because many patients have no insurance, they often receive no payment for their services. More than 40% of the patients at Teton Medical Center in Choteau have no means of paying.

The Healthy Montana Plan will help more Montanans gain health insurance, which will reduce the amount of uncompensated care these rural hospital are forced to deal with.

3. Creates Jobs

By bringing Montana taxpayer dollars back to the state to extend health coverage to our friends, neighbors and family members, we'll also be creating good paying jobs in the health care industry. It is estimated that the Healthy Montana Plan will support roughly 12,000 jobs in the state, with an average salary of $42,000--well above the state average.

4. Brings Montana Tax Dollars Back to Montana

For the first three years of the program, federal funding is available to pay 100 percent of the costs of expansion. These are tax dollars that Montanans are already sending to Washington, D.C.. We can either bring these dollars back to Montana or continue to send them to provide healthcare for individuals in states that have expanded Medicaid, like New Jersey, Arizona, North Dakota and Ohio.

5. Saves Montana Money

In the first two years of the Healthy Montana Plan, it will save $59 million in state taxpayer dollars. It accomplishes this by reducing the need for other services that uninsured Montanans currently depend on.

6. A Made in Montana Solution

Until now, other expansion states have focused primarily on one of two delivery models: "pure" Medicaid expansion and the "premium assistance" model. The Healthy Montana Plan takes the best of these models and creates a truly unique solution, based on the successful Healthy Montana Kids Program, that maximizes access to care, increases efficiencies in our health care system, and implements meaningful reform, by:

- Using a broad private provider network and negotiated payment structure. This model ensures that providers will be available to treat the new population while maintaining the fiscal viability of the plan.

- Accessing innovative private sector programs to improve patient outcomes and lower costs so that patients get the right care, at the right time, in the right place.

- Requiring payment and delivery reforms for the existing Medicaid program through targeted care management and coordination for chronically ill, high risk, high cost patients.

- Creating a mandatory, multipronged fraud and abuse reporting system.'

- Ensuring that if the federal share of the cost of the Healthy Montana Plan drops below 90%, coverage will terminate.

7. Addresses Mental Health Needs in Montana

The Healthy Montana Plan will ensure Montanans have access to both physical and mental health care. It will allow those who are currently uninsured and living with mental health challenges to get care early, rather than waiting until they are in a crisis situation that requires acute treatment.

8. Increases Access to Medical Care to Native Americans in Montana

Thom Bridge / Via missoulian.com

Recently, Little Shell Chairman Gerald Gray spoke to a joint session of the Montana Legislature where he urged them to expand Medicaid to increase access to health care for Native Americans in the state. He pointed out that the services provided by Indian Health Services are limited, often leaving Indians without. The Healthy Montana Plan will help to fill the gaps in health care for American Indians in the state.

Gray also noted that on average, white men in Montana live 19 years longer than Indian men, and white women live 20 years longer than American Indian women.

9. Reduces Bankruptcies

Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy. By offering coverage to the thousands of working Montanans without health care coverage, the Healthy Montana Plan will reduce medical bankruptcies and protect families from financial ruin.

10. Increases Access to Low-Cost Preventive Care

Often, folks without health insurance don't access preventative care for their health issues, instead waiting until the situation becomes so serious that they require care at the most expensive place, the emergency room. By expanding coverage to more Montanans, will will allow them to access preventative care such as annual exams and cancer screenings.

11. Keeps Our Promise to Veterans

Montana has the highest rate of uninsured veterans in the nation. When these brave men and women offer to serve our nation, we make a promise to them that when they return home they'll be able to access health care. This is a promise that we need to keep.

The Healthy Montana Plan will help fill the gaps in the patchwork system of health care that our veterans face. It will extend health insurance to more than 9,000 veterans and their family members.

12. Increases Economic Competitiveness for Montana

With neighboring states like North Dakota and Utah either having already expanded Medicaid or moving closer towards that goal, Montana is at a competitive disadvantage when businesses are seeking a new home or a place to grow.

13. Reduces a Hidden Tax on Montanans

When uninsured people are unable to pay for health care they receive, a portion of the cost of that care is shifted onto those of us who are fortunate enough to have health insurance, creating a hidden tax that drives up costs. By extending coverage to 70,000 Montanans and providing them a way to pay for their health care, it will reduce this hidden tax on Montanans with insurance, slowing the increase in health care costs.

14. Not a Partisan Issue

Governor's from across the nation--both Democrats and Republicans--have recognized that accepting federal funds to expand health coverage to their constituents is the right thing to do.

15. Protects Montana Businesses from Tax Penalties

Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government is mandating that businesses either provide health care to their employees or pay a $2,000-per-employee penalty. With the Healthy Montana Plan, we can provide an affordable option that will help businesses stay open. The Healthy Montana Plan will save businesses $8-$12 million in tax penalties.

16. Provides Competitive Wages for Medical Providers

By reducing the burden of uncompensated care, Montana hospitals will have more flexibility in their budget to increase providers' wages, bringing them closer to marker values. This will help rural medical centers to recruit and retain quality providers.