Working to Lower the Cost of Health Care in Montana & Beyond

I have traveled all across Montana meeting with folks face-to-face to get ideas about how to lower the cost of health care. I know that folks are paying too much for premiums and deductibles. That’s why I’m working hard to ensure that Montana families can afford health care.

Bills I’ve Introduced…

• The Individual Health Insurance Marketplace Improvement Act will create a new permanent reinsurance program to help cover the claims of the sickest enrollees in the Marketplace, which will stabilize insurance rates, increase certainty for insurers, and curb growing costs for Montanans.
• The Marketplace Certainty Act will require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to make critical cost-sharing reduction payments to lower Montanans’ out-of-pocket costs and stabilize health insurance markets.
• The Stopping the Pharmaceutical Industry from Keeping Drugs Expensive (SPIKE) Act will hold drug companies accountable by forcing them to publicly disclose detailed information about a significant price increase on any prescription drug.
• The States Achieve Medicaid Expansion (SAME) Act will ensure Montana gets its fair share of Medicaid expansion funding.
• The Restoring Rural Residencies Act will bring more doctors to rural Montana by allowing Medicare to reimburse residency programs for the time residents spend at Critical Access Hospitals.
• The Addressing Affordability for More Americans Act will provide premium tax credits to working Montanans who make too much money to qualify for existing tax credits but still have trouble affording health insurance.
• The Save Women’s Preventive Care Act will ensure the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions that require insurers to cover birth control and other preventive care procedures — like cancer screenings — remain intact.

Changes I’ve Already Enacted…

• Last Congress, I helped pass the PACE Act, preventing 20% premium hikes for many small businesses and giving states greater authority to oversee the small group health insurance Marketplace.
• I also helped pass the Small Business Health Care Relief Act, which allows small businesses to offer stand-alone Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRA) that employees can use for health care expenses, including Marketplace insurance premiums.
• And finally I worked to successfully remove the 1099 Small Business Reporting Requirement from the ACA, saving thousands time and money by helping business owners avoid filing unnecessary paperwork.