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By Joan McCarter | Daily Kos
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, not willing to wait for the Affordable Care Act to kick in in two or three years, is challenging the federal government to start having a dialogue about real health care reform now by allowing Montana to set up a system modeled on "SaskCare," the Saskatchewan health system, the first universal health care system among the Canadian provinces.
Associated Press | Billings Gazette
HELENA, Mont. - Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Wednesday he will ask the U.S. government to let Montana set up its own universal health care program, taking his rhetorical fight over health care to another level.
Robert W. Putsch, MD | Letter to the Editor | Helena (Mont.) Independent Record
Health care reform could provide better care at less cost by replacing competing insurance companies with a single-payer health plan. An improved Medicare for All would reduce administrative costs leaving the state with enough funds to provide universal care. Vermont recently passed legislation to move in that direction and Montana would be wise to study this option.
By ROBERT PUTSCH | Independent Record (Helena, Mont.)
Medicaid covers four of 10 births in the U.S. and provides care for one in every three children. Montana can ill afford to expose at-risk families to denials and the profit-making focus of yet another health insurance company.
Bob Balhiser | Letter to the Editor | Independent Record (Helena, Mont.)
Max Baucus really talked up his so-called health care “debate” for well over a year. The fact is there was no “debate.” Max’s health care bill was principally written by Liz Fowler, a Baucus staffer and former V.P. of WellPoint, one of the largest health insurance companies in America.
Richard A. Damon, M.D. | Queen City News | Letter to the Editor
The four basic system problems that exist in current U.S. health care – costs, affordability, access and quality of care – are intricately related to the alliance of the five biggest players in our failed health care model, namely (a) the insurance industry, (b) the drug industry, (c) the hospital industry, (d) business (e) and organized medicine.
By George Waring | Letter to the editor, The Montana Standard Thanks for the photo on Tuesday of Sen. Max Baucus straightening Tim Geithner’s tie. That’s the least the senator could do for a most important constituent and campaign contributor.
Associated Press | The Huffington Post
The Bill preserves language won by Baucus permitting many of the 2,900 residents of Libby, Mont., to qualify for Medicare benefits. Some of them have asbestos-related diseases from a now-shuttered mine.
Contact Information
Montanans for Single-Payer
Website: http://montanansforsinglepayer.org
Donate to Montanans for Single-Payer: http://montanansforsinglepayer.org/?page_id=239
Montana State News
By MIKE DENNISON | The Missoulian
Retired internist Robert Seward, a self-described "Mad as Hell" doctor who wants a publicly funded health system that covers all Americans, told a Helena crowd Thursday that he had a telling conversation with a Canadian citizen a day earlier.
The Clark Fork Chronicle
Campbell said that Montanans for Single-Payer is convinced the only way to assure quality health care for all Montanans and all Americans is to implement a single-payer system that can contain costs, allow individuals to choose their own doctors, hospitals and other health care providers, and integrate wellness programs throughout the nation's health care. "Currently we have an inefficient, wasteful, and expensive patchwork, not a true health care system," Campbell said. "Only a single-payer approach can provide a true system for health care delivery."
By BETH SIRR | Helena Independent Record
Sick of health insurance costs? Then pay attention. Some in Congress want to perpetuate the power of insurance corporations over our health care and what we pay to get it. There is an alternative. The U.S. National Health Care Act: Expanded and Improved Medicare for All, HR 676 could be implemented within 13 months (like Medicare was) and unlike the Wall Street bailout, would be funded by eliminating waste while providing a real hand up for every American family and business -- except the insurance industry.
by Bob Balhiser | Queen City News, Montana
Now that Tom Daschle is out of contention for HHS secretary, Sen. Baucus seems to think he has an inside track and is teaming up with Sen. Kennedy to push through his plan for health care reform. I cannot imagine a worse outcome.
By GENE FENDERSON | Great Falls Tribune
We don't really have a "system." What we have is a confused maze of coverage types and providers -- Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, SCHIP, military, veterans administration, Indian Health Service, federal employee coverage, health savings accounts, community health centers, private insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, medical coverage in auto insurance and more. Unfortunately, the Baucus plan simply adds even more layers of confusion to this hodgepodge, which is already driving costs up and up for all Americans. We can do better. We must do better. That is why a single-payer system must be on the table.
by Bob Balhiser | Queen City News, Helena, Montana
Like the old saying, "Too many cooks spoil the broth", it can likewise be said that too many fingers in the till ruin a health care system. Dr. Putsch has recently done an excellent job of outlining just how much of our health care dollar is spent on administrative costs by citing studies that peg the range between 31 to 38 cents. I think everyone can agree that either amount is out of line and serves to explain why our health care costs have grown exponentially.
By Robert W. Putsch | Helena Independent Record | Your Turn
Montanans spent $4.9 billion on health care in 2003. If these authors are right, then Montanans paid over $1,600 in administrative costs for every man, woman and child in the state, including the uninsured. That means that only 69 cents of every dollar spent went to health care needs. Remember, administrative costs are passed on to patients, bill by bill, paycheck deduction by paycheck deduction, and even at the pharmacy!
By MIKE DENNISON | Reporter's notebook | Billings Gazette
When it comes to health care reform in America, there is a relatively simple solution that will cover everyone's basic health care, control costs and save businesses, most people and the country a lot of money.