Health Care

Max Baucus: Working to ensure Montanans have access to quality, affordable health care.

As chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, Montana’s senior U.S. Senator, Max Baucus was a key author of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act- working to ensure the economic recovery legislation was right for Montana.

In addition to his work on the Jobs Bill, Max is leading the charge for health care reform and included funding for health care in the measure. The Jobs Bill will help struggling families while creating good paying jobs in the health care industry and helping families plan for the future.

The Jobs Bill Provisions for Health Care:

Includes Health Insurance Assistance Provisions to:

• Expand COBRA provisions to help Montanans who’ve lost their jobs maintain and afford health insurance coverage.

• Provide Temporary Medical Assistance (TMA) for 4,800 Montanans, 3000 of which are children.  Extending TMA will allow individuals to keep Medicaid and will make it easier for families to return to work without risking their health insurance. 

• Make sure low income seniors and disabled Montanans will continue to get help with their premiums through the Qualified Individual (QI) program.  

• Ensure the nearly 20,000 Native Americans in Montana on Medicaid are protected from out of pocket costs for health care services.

• Boost Montana’s Health Information Technology systems to ensure they will be eligible for Medicare financial incentives.
• $180 million in additional state relief for Montana’s more than 31,000 adults and 47,000 children covered by Medicaid.

The bill included $2 billion to help the nation’s community health centers keep their doors open, keeping good paying jobs and vital health care services available in communities across Montana.  

There are several resources available for organizations interested in receiving some of this vital funding. The websites recovery.gov and recovery.mt.gov are excellent places to start.  Baucus staff can also offer support including help contacting the appropriate agency or department and providing support during the funding process.