Archive for Healthcare
VETOed by the Brand
Posted by:Today, Governor Brian Schweitzer was true to his word when he said he would take his VETO branding irons to bills that are unconstitutional, frivolous or in direct contradiction to the expressed will of Montana voters.
In a ceremony on the north steps of the Capitol, the Governor was joined by more than 100 onlookers as he took the brands to 7 bills.
The bills the got the brand were:
- SB114: Which initially would have put sheriffs in charge of federal law enforcement officers, but now had been amended to where it was pointless and would do nothing but clutter our law books
- HB318: Would put county commissioners in charge of bison management, rather than FWP as it currently is
- SB109: Would kills jobs in the state and roll back our progress towards renewable energy
- HB272: Would make it more difficult for the public to acquire land for hunting, fishing and recreating
- SB159: Would make it harder for homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient
- HB180: Would eliminate election day voter registration
- SB306: Would overturn two voter approved laws that restricted cyanide leach open-pit mining and thus would severely damage our rivers, lakes and streams
In addition to these bills, the Governor also held a more traditional veto signing in his office. Here he vetoed the following bills: HB456, HB464, SB111, SB228, SB324, SB370, SB324, SB370, SB254, HB161, SB183 and HB542
Helping Rural Health Centers
Posted by:The GOP budget, which was passed on Monday by the House, rejected millions of dollars from the federal government. This money was slated to assist Montana in maintaining it’s quality schools, roads and heath systems.
$35 million of the money the extremist Republicans rejected was set to assist rural health systems upgrade their technology to better meet the needs of their patients. This would help rural hospitals in Montana to better communicate with each other in order to ensure their patients are not receiving duplicate services or unnecessary, invasive procedures.
Today, Governor Brian Schweitzer called a press conference, where he was joined by approximately 50 rural hospital administrators, to discuss these cuts. At the press conference, he told the story of when his mother was injured. She want to the hospital near Georgetown Lake and had a series of tests and procedures run. Medicare covered the costs of those test. However, when she returned to Helena and went to the hospital to examine her injuries further, they ran many of the same tests and Medicare once again paid for those services.
The Governor used this example to highlight a problem that would be eliminated with the upgraded technology. The $35 million used to implement the system would quickly pay for itself by stopping Medicare from paying for the same tests twice.
The Governor also noted that the rejection of these funds will be devastating to jobs in these rural communities. These funds would have created 504 jobs in these communities. These jobs would have been a huge financial boon that these towns will not see without these funds.
The GOP maintains they rejected the funds as a means to help the federal government balance their budget. This excuse doesn’t hold water. These rejected funds do not go back to the federal bank account. Instead, these funds will go to other states to improve their health care system, making Montana’s health system less competitive.
The Governor urged the Senate to reinstate these funds for the sake of our rural communities and our state’s economy.
GOP Set to Pass Unconstitutional Bill
Posted by:The House GOP today came one step close to giving final approval to a bill that their own staff has said is blatantly unconstitutional.
The bill, SB106, sponsored by Sen. Jason Priest of Red Lodge, seeks to force the Montana Attorney General to join a Florida lawsuit that seeks to overturn the health reform law passed last year.
Attorney General Steve Bullock has refused to join the lawsuit, because he believes the law to be constitutional (a view that 3 federal judges have agreed with) and joining this lawsuit would be a waste of taxpayer money and his staff’s time.
This bill was flagged as being likely unconstitutional by the legislature’s own attorneys. These attorneys stated that it would be overreach by the Republican legislators to seek to force the Attorney General to take any actions. When the bill was in the Senate, the Democratic leader Carol Williams made sure the Republicans in the body knew about this ruling from the legislative attorney, but they ignored the legal advice and supported the bill.
Today, the House approved the bill on second reading on a party-line vote. Final approval of the bill will likely come tomorrow, at which point the bill will go to the Governor’s desk to either sign, or veto.
Today, the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services voted to privatize the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls. All Republicans supported this action, all Democrats opposed it.
Because of this measure, the home will be run in a way that values profit over the care of our veterans. Our veterans deserve better than this. The residents of this home were willing to risk their life defending our country, and this is their thanks? Quality treatment of these veterans should be the driving factor in decisions relating to the home.
Sen. Dave Lewis (R-Helena), the sponsor of this measure, says that reducing costs of operating the home is the main reason for this decision. However, he admits that the cost savings will likely come from cuts to salaries and benefits for the employees of the home. This will make it harder for the home to recruit qualified and experienced workers to care for our veterans.
The Veterans Home employees 143 full-time employees. Because of this proposal, these jobs are all at risk.
So let’s be clear, this measure compromises the quality of care for our veterans and risks 143 jobs in the Columbia Falls area. Is this what Republican lawmakers were sent to Helena to do?
Keeping Private Medical Decisions Private
Posted by:Today, a bipartisan majority in the House, led by Democrats killed a bill that would mandate invasive ultrasound procedures before a woman could receive access to abortion services.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Pat Ingraham, is one of the most over reaching bills of the session. It seeks to put mandates between patients and their doctors. It would not give the woman seeking the procedure the option to opt out of the ultrasound procedure.
The bill was expected to pass through the House easily, however momentum turned against the bill when Republican members were reminded that they often rail against government involvement in their life. Opponents of the bill explained that this bill would put far more intrusive rules on medical procedures than we have ever seen in our medical system.
Opponents also pointed out that this bill creates no jobs and does nothing to improve the economy.
The bill failed on a 47-53 vote, with all Democrats voting against the measure.
"We believe that the current budget, heading to the Senate Floor next week, unnecessarily pits Montanans against, creating winners and losers” 