Archive for Healthcare
HB 565, sponsored by Rep. Tim Furey (D-Milltown) was heard Monday before the House Business and Labor committee. HB 565, titled “Implement Montana Veterans Supplemental Health Insurance Program” will provide supplemental funds for qualified National Guard and U.S. reserve members to cover certain, additional costs associated to the federal TRICARE health insurance program. Read More→
Sawfly Research
Posted by:The House Appropriations committee heard HB 334 sponsored by Rep. Belcourt (D - Box Elder) “Funding for sawfly research” on February 10. This bill would provide funding for an MSU research project addressing crop losses due to sawfly infestation. Read More→
Rep. Bill McChesney (D-Miles City) is sponsoring a bill that will help 600 small businesses in Montana access affordable health insurance coverage. The bill, HB 258, at the request of Auditor Lindeen’s office, requests funds to provide Insure Montana program benefits to over 600 businesses currently on the program’s waiting list. Read More→
Contributed by Senator Kim Hansen (D).
Health care costs in the United States are twice what they are in any other country, yet almost 1 in 5 Montanans is without health insurance. And for Montanans in rural areas, lack of insurance is secondary to the lack of available providers. I recently introduced legislation seeking the formation of a Legislative Health Policy Council. The committee will be bipartisan and composed of four members from each chamber. It is my hope that the committee members will engage not only in meetings, but research, and working in conjunction with the appropriate state agencies to develop legislation and/or strategies for improving health care in Montana. Read More→
Spotlight on Montana’s uninsured
Posted by:Lawmakers pitching in to help aide after fall
Lawmakers here are taking up collections to pay the medical bills of one of their own employees who broke her arm over the weekend, but doesn’t qualify for state health insurance and doesn’t make enough money to buy coverage on the open market. Full story by Jennifer McKee in the Missoulian here .>>
House aide’s broken arm puts face on uninsured
Jenn Phalen looked into buying health insurance, but the $300 monthly premium was too much to cover with the wage she makes as a part-time assistant to the speaker of the House. Full story by Daniel Person in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle here .>>
"I think that it’s going to all work out, with the changes that we have agreed to. It’s not as much (spending for some programs) as I would’ve hoped, but apparently it’s more than other people wanted. As usual, we are trying to find the middle.” 
"[On term limits:] You empower the executive, you empower the lobbyists and that's not good for the system because then we lose what the citizen Legislature brings.” 