Wicks wants medicare card for veterans

by Havre Daily News staff

Libertarian candidate for Montana’s open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives Mark Wicks said in a press release that the government should let veterans use their health benefits anywhere, part of the only function he says the federal government has.

“Government has no more than one function,” Wicks said in the release, “and that’s to protect the rights of the individual people in its jurisdiction.”

That means, Wicks said, maintenance of national defense.

“And that means government must provide for those men and women who put their lives on the line. That means that the very best medical care must be available to our veterans. The best,” Wicks said, “I want to give veterans a Medicare card so they can turn to places other than Veterans Affairs for health care.”

Wicks is running against Republican candidate Greg Gianforte and Democrat Rob Quist for the seat vacated when Republican Ryan Zinke was appointed Interior secretary.

Wicks said giving veterans a card would ensure good service to them.

“After all, we have veterans everywhere, but VA facilities are not everywhere,” he said in the release. “I think VA clinics do well at several things — prosthetic limbs, traumatic head injuries and treating post-traumatic stress disorder.

“But just for common, everyday treatment, I don’t think it’s cost-effective or even having good outcomes,” he said. He added he is “very opposed” to transferring money away from either Medicare or Social Security to fill gaps in other parts of the budget.

Wicks is a rancher in Inverness, where he also delivers the mail.

“I’m not really a politics guy. But I am a freedom guy, and I feel it’s a duty for each of us to do everything we can, for ourselves and for our children, to work to advance freedom,” Wicks said.