Medicaid, general fund, campaign finance on Salomon’s plate
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This is going to be a very busy week. The budget for the next biennium is scheduled to be debated and voted on. This is going to happen on Wednesday and Thursday on the House floor. The General Fund budget is known as House Bill 2. It has been through the Appropriation sub-committee hearings and passed by the whole House Appropriation Committee. There will probably be up to two days of amendments and discussion. Once it passes out of the House, it will go to the Senate where it will be sent to the Senate Finance and Claims committee. There are many steps left for this main spending bill. It will also have many changes as income and revenues are examined and studied.
The Montana Health and Economic Livelihood Partnership (HELP) is being advanced and explained this week. This is a Republican answer for insurance availability at an affordable cost for thousands of Montanans without health insurance. It also supports our rural hospitals by reducing uncompensated care costs.
Eligibility for HELP is available for those who are not eligible for Medicaid but fall below the 138 percent of poverty and don’t qualify for the federal exchange. Qualifiers will have to make premium payments and co-pays, which are adjusted for income levels. There are incentives for healthy behavior along with legal reforms to reduce fraud and abuse. This program starts out using or retaining federal dollars in Montana with provisions that intend to wean federal and state dollars in the future.
The program coordinates with other programs in the state that address the need of people in poverty. This is also about getting people training and placement in better jobs to increase their income levels which reduces the need for HELP.
This program has been three years in the making with the focus on leveraging the programs that Montanans already provide to those in need by furthering personal responsibility. This is truly a hand up and not a hand out.
On Tuesday we will hear SB 289 to revise campaign finance laws. We made sure that the small minority couldn’t kill the bill before it got a fair hearing in the house. It would allow people to find out who is funding organizations that send out attack mailers and advertising. This is more commonly known as “dark money.”
Thank you to everyone for your messages. I generally receive 100 or more messages a day. That number is even larger on days when big issues are in front of us. This may be why you don’t always get a personal response from me, but please be assured that I read and consider all of them. I had the pleasure of hosting Nichole Lake from Polson as a Page this last week. Great to see someone from near home. Please send your comments and thoughts to dansalomon12@gmail.com
