Quality, Affordable Health Insurance for All

Our health care system is in trouble: costs are rising at an unsustainable rate, too many Americans are uninsured, and quality of care isn't up to par. High costs are making it increasingly difficult for Montana's families and businesses to afford comprehensive health insurance, which means that Montana's rate of uninsured is growing rapidly. Although the United States spends twice as much on health care as any other country, we clearly aren't twice as healthy.

Charting a Course for Health Care Reform

So how do we fix our health care system? As chairman of the Finance Committee, with jurisdiction over the major public health insurance programs, I introduced health care reform legislation that will lower costs and provide quality, affordable health care coverage for folks across the state and the nation. The legislation is the end product of more than a year of preparation, which included holding more than 40 health care events across the state and listening to the concerns of thousands of Montanans.

My plan offers a balanced approach to deliver meaningful health care reform. It is a common-sense bill that represents a real chance for health care reform, because it is an earnest effort to reach common ground and it won't add to the federal deficit as it is fully paid for. The bill I introduced helps Montanans in the following ways:

• Ends Insurance Company Discrimination - My bill will stop insurance companies from denying coverage to Montanans with pre-existing conditions such as heart disease, cancer or diabetes and from hiking up rates or dropping coverage for those who get sick.
• Lowers Costs - The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the Baucus bill will reduce the rate at which premiums in the individual and small group market are growing. And CBO says the bill effectively slows the growth of federal health care spending over the long term.
• Ensures Quality Health Care Coverage for Millions of Americans - My bill will provide access to quality health care coverage for 36 million Americans - significantly reducing the cost of uncompensated care and resulting in lower costs for everyone and savings to the economy.
• Improves Quality - My bill includes numerous provisions to improve the way we deliver care. The bill creates quality and efficiency incentives that will improve care and cut down on waste such as unnecessary hospital readmissions.
• Strengthens and Improves Medicare - My bill will not cut benefits in the Medicare program. In fact, the bill will increase benefits, with key provisions that provide seniors with free preventive care and wellness check-ups with their doctor. The bill will improve care for seniors with chronic conditions and it will provide a 50 percent discount on brand-name prescription drugs for seniors in the "doughnut hole," a gap in coverage in the Medicare prescription drug program. The bill strengthens Medicare to ensure the program's sustainability.
• Cuts Down on Fraud, Waste and Abuse - My bill will strengthen oversight and enforcement measures to cut down on fraud, waste and abuse in the health care system, which is estimated to cost more than $60 billion every year.
• Improves Choice and Competition - In most states today, one insurance company controls nearly half the market, putting insurance companies in control and leaving Americans with little choice and few consumer protections. My bill will create a competitive and transparent market with meaningful benefit packages for consumers to choose from.
• Modernizes the Health Care System - My bill increases efficiency in the health system by standardizing electronic transactions among insurers and health care providers, lowering premiums and allowing doctors to spend less time filling out paperwork and more time treating patients.

The time has come for action and I have offered a blueprint for reform that I am confident will help all Montanans and Americans get quality, affordable health care coverage. Together, we are going to fix the way Montanans get the care they need.

Medicare Prescription Drugs

Seniors should never have to choose between prescription drugs in their medicine cabinet and food on their table. I'm working to ensure my efforts to reform our health care system are right for Montana's seniors.

Improvements to Medicare

My plan strengthens and improves Medicare - My bill will not cut benefits in the Medicare program, but in fact, increase benefits, with key provisions that provide seniors with free preventive care and wellness check-ups with their doctor. The bill will improve care for seniors with chronic conditions and it will provide a 50 percent discount on brand-name prescription drugs for seniors in the "doughnut hole," a gap in coverage in the Medicare prescription drug program. The bill strengthens Medicare to ensure the program's sustainability.

In 2008, I helped write and pass H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act which became law on July 15th, 2008. My bill blocked a cut in physician payments for Medicare services and raised payments, extended an increase in the payment for physicians in rural areas, eliminated penalties for late enrollment in the Medicare drug benefit for low-income seniors and established a demonstration project to allow states to test new ways to better coordinate hospital, nursing home, home health and other critical health care services in rural areas. It also included a provision that would strengthen rural hospitals’ ability to provide emergency mental health care services for veterans in crisis in rural areas. This provision was based on the bill I introduced in June, 2008, the Relief for Rural Veterans in Crisis Act of 2008. Senator Jon Tester was a co-sponsor of that bill.

Medicaid

Medicaid serves many Montanans of modest means. I've seen first-hand the importance of Medicaid in providing quality health care for tens of thousands of Montana children, pregnant women, mothers, disabled persons, and senior citizens. I have successfully fought against drastic cuts in the Medicaid program. I am committed to strengthening and improving the Medicaid so it can continue to provide a safety net of health and long-term care services for future generations. With one in five Montanans uninsured, we should work to strengthen this critical part of our health care safety net. I want to look for ways to improve the program, promoting prevention, and finding ways to deliver quality long-term care services more efficiently to keep the program strong.

Another big priority of mine is to make sure that trade displaced workers have access to health care while they are training for a new job. In 2002, I worked hard to provide such assistance to trade-displaced workers, farmers and ranchers. That program, called Trade Adjustment Assistance, now provides assistance by covering 65 percent of health insurance premiums. That program still needs adjustment, and I am working to improve this program to make sure it delivers on its promises of access to health services for displaced workers and retirees.

Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

Making sure Montana’s children have access to quality health care is one of my top priorities. The CHIP program currently provides health care insurance to more than 16,000 low-income kids in Montana alone. The program covers more than 11 million children nationwide and has lowered the number of uninsured children in the past ten years. This is a very important program.

I'm proud of the role I played in crafting the federal CHIP legislation when it was passed by Congress and signed into law in 1997.

I have continued to play a role in supporting the program, both nationally and in Montana. Once CHIP became law; I worked with the Montana Legislature and former State Auditor Mark O'Keefe to find funding for Montana's share of CHIP.

When Montana submitted its CHIP application, I worked with Donna Shalala, then-secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to expedite the federal agency's review of the plan.

In 1998, I worked to increase Montana's share of CHIP funding by nearly $2 million, by pushing a change in the way the U.S. Census Bureau counts uninsured Indian children. That amounted to an increase in CHIP funding for Montana of about 20 percent.

In 2000, I helped broker a compromise between states that had spent all their CHIP funding and those that had not, allowing Montana to keep about $2.7 million in CHIP funds. Provisions of the CHIP law would have forced 40 states, including Montana, to surrender a total of $1.9 billion in CHIP funding.

In 2006, I co-authored a compromise that redistributed funds to protect a number of states against experiencing gaps in federal CHIP funding through May of 2007.

Reauthorization of CHIP

After a successful ten year history, the CHIP program came up for reauthorization in 2007. I led an effort in the Senate to craft a reauthorization package that would build on the previous success of the CHIP program and provide the additional funds I know Montana and other states need. Some states need additional funds just to maintain current enrollment. Other states could expand their CHIP coverage with increased CHIP funding. Health care for kids is getting more expensive, just like it is for adults, so the additional money is important. We got agreement in the Senate and passed a bill providing $35 billion over the next five years for CHIP. Then, we worked with the House and passed a compromise bill with the same level of funding. The President vetoed that bill. Congress decided to work on a new compromise and sent a second reauthorization bill to the president, which was also vetoed.

In light of the President’s vetoes, Congress extended the current program until March 31, 2009 at the end of 2007. Also at that time, Congress authorized sufficient funding for all states to continue current enrollment through that date. I believe we cannot afford to lose ground in our fight to get kids health care coverage, so as chairman of the Finance Committee, I will continue to work with my colleagues to develop a reauthorization plan that fully funds CHIP going forward and work to cover more eligible kids.

In January 2009, I led the Finance Committee and Senate passage of the $32.8 billion bill that will now preserve coverage for as many as 6.7 million children and bring new health coverage to 4.1 million additional low-income, uninsured American children. In February, President Obama signed the bill into law.

Methamphetamine

Meth is a real scourge in our state and it isn’t going away quietly. We have a real fight on our hands. Fighting meth is a very personal issue for me. In early 2000, I first began to understand the dangers of this drug and I started to raise the issues back at home and on Capitol Hill. I brought then-Drug Czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey to Billings to hear his thoughts on methamphetamine use. That was nine years ago, and we’re still fighting as hard as ever.

I’m encouraged by the success of the Montana Meth Project, and I have a plan to make sure meth use continues to decline in Big Sky Country. There are several key components to getting rid of meth in Montana and around the country – law enforcement, prevention and treatment. I’m working on all three areas simultaneously.

Law Enforcement

Law enforcement officials need the tools to clean up the meth labs and stop the dealers from pedaling this very destructive drug. The main thing law enforcement officials need is money. That’s why I fought so hard to get Montana included in the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program (HIDTA). It was a long struggle, but I was committed to twisting arms at every level until we were included in HIDTA. It took a full two years, but we finally got it done. Now Montana receives money for law enforcement to target meth use.

Ever since I got Montana included in Rocky Mountain HIDTA we’ve been fighting to keep Congress from cutting those important HIDTA dollars. Between HIDTA and Byrne grant funding I’ve brought more than $2 million to date to Montana. I led the effort to keep HIDTA funding steady and you can count on me to continue working to bring more dollars to our state to fight meth.

Prevention

In 2005 I launched a state-wide public service campaign that included a 30-second television ad highlighting the dangers of meth use. I also kicked off my own meth tour traveling around the state, holding meetings with students, and talking about the dangers of meth. I worked even harder on prevention and have spoken to more than 2500 high school students about meth during my meth prevention school assemblies. I brought Montana Meth Project founder Tom Siebel with me to show the students the new Montana Meth ads that are working to make sure the message “not even once,” is on the minds of all young people.

Every time I meet with students I’m amazed by how many students are affected by meth. They have friends that have tried it or are hooked. And then there are those whose parents are addicted.

I’ll continue to meet with kids and their teachers, as well as parents. One of the best ways to keep kids off meth, to prevent them from trying it even once, is to get the parents involved. Parents need to talk to their kids about the dangers of meth.  And I want to be there, to help participate in the dialogue between parents and kids about how awful meth is and how it can ruin families.

We had a major victory in 2006 when we successfully got pseudoephedrine, one of the key ingredients of meth, off the shelves and behind the counter. I had been fighting for this move for some time now and am glad we succeeded. This was a huge step. Law enforcement officials said that this was a big victory and it’s one we’ll continue to build on.

Treatment

We also must focus on treatment for meth abusers. We need to get those who are addicted to meth the medical care and treatment they need and deserve so they can break their addiction and get back on track. I worked with Senators Grassley, Rockefeller, Snowe and Hatch to have the Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2006 passed and signed into law. This law creates a competitive grant program to help individuals, addicted to meth and other substances, receive treatment for the entire family including therapeutic services for their children. So I’m committed to preventing another generation from falling victim to meth and to working to providing more options for those who are hooked on meth to help them get clean and stay clean.

The best way to knock out this awful drug is by working together – sharing ideas, talking about what works and what doesn’t.