Lieutenant governor holds Havre roundtable on I 185

Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney spoke to people in Havre Wednesday about Initiative 185, which would raise taxes on tobacco, e-cigarettes and vaping products to help fund HELP - Montana's Medicaid expansion - and other services in the state.

"I think it's important to kind of set the record straight on what's being said and some of the confusion that's been thrown into this issue during the campaign," Cooney said. "Simply put, big tobacco companies are dumping millions of dollars into Montana to deceive voters. ... They are flooding our airways and our mailboxes with misinformation, all to protect the bottom line, their profits. So today we are going to stand up to Big Tobacco and we're clearing the smoke around ballot initiative I 185."

Cooney held a roundtable at Northern Montana Hospital with members of the community including representatives of Bullhook Community Health Center, Northern Montana Health Care, Bear Paw Development Corp. and Havre Public Schools.

I 185 will fully fund the state's share of Medicaid coverage for 100,000 Montanans, help reduce smoking and fund other essential services which senior citizens and veterans earned and deserve, Cooney said. The initiative creates new revenue that can be used for programs such as suicide prevention, support to veterans, funding veterans' nursing home services and provide in-home care for seniors, he said.

"It actually brings in an additional $2 million on top of what is already being invested in veterans' programs," Cooney said, Adding that I 185 will raise the tobacco tax and in turn help reduce smoking, the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the state.

"If you don't smoke, you don't pay," Cooney said. "If you don't use tobacco, you don't pay. Hold comp anies accountable for the nearly $800 extra taxes that Montana households now pay to cover smoking and tobacco use."

The initiative will also save $385 million in health care costs, Cooney said.

He said it will also help preserve health care access for everyone in the state, especially those who are living in rural areas.

The economy will also benefit, he said, with Medicaid expansion creating nearly 5,000 jobs in the state as well as bringing $300 million in new personal income and $500 million into the state's economy that would otherwise not be there.

He added that the confusion and opposition is mostly spearheaded by Big Tobacco.

"It is amazing what $12 million-plus can do to cloud these issues," he said. "We don't want to let Big Tobacco win; there is too much at stake."

Northern Montana Health Care Center CEO Dave Henry said there is also confusion on health care. Everyone is guaranteed health care, he said - people will never lose their ability to receive health care although what is being debated is who pays the bill.

The cost is insignificant compared to the premiums that would be required to be paid, Henry said, because everyone is picking up the cost of all the other charges.

Although health care is not necessarily a right, he added, there is access to health care. Henry said if people need to smoke, paying the higher cost of tobacco, they still get insurance.

"That is still a pretty good trade off," he said.

After the roundtable was over, Cooney said in an interview that Henry made a good point. People are guaranteed access to health care, it is just a matter of how it is paid for, he said. If someone doesn't have health insurance, they will most likely not seek out care until they are already very sick and go to the emergency room, Cooney said, sandhat's the problem.

"That's the stone that's rolling down the hill that we all have to pick up," he said.

People who qualify for Medicaid might struggle to pay for good health care without it, he added.

"This allows them to deal with their health care issues when they should be dealt with," Cooney said, "not when it becomes a major health care problem."

Bear Paw Development Executive Director Paul Tuss said During the roundtable that a big concern for many communities is how rural health care facilities will stay open if the initiative is voted down.

Tuss is the Democratic Candidate in the race for the seat in Senate District 14, challenging Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, in his bid for re-election.

While campaigning in Chester, Tuss said, he knocked on the doors of the chief executive officer and chief financial officer of Liberty Medical Center. He said they are very concerned about the initiative because many rural health centers are already "hanging by the skin of their teeth."

"For the health of the community, this is important," Tuss said.

Dr. Dee Althouse of Bullhook Community Health Center said 44 percent of the patients at the center benefit from Medicaid.

Bullhook Chief Financial Officer Kyndra Hall said if Medicaid expansion was to go away, a lot of people who are receiving behavioral health, mental health or substance use services would most likely no longer come because they would not be able to afford the care they need.

Bullhook Chief Operating Officer Molly Wendland added, she has many patients who are not ready to quit smoking, but who might because of the hit in their pocket book the initiative will make.

She said even if they don't quit, Medicaid will help them receive health care to help them and take steps to catch any signs of cancer at its early and most treatable stages if they get it.

Cooney said he has heard a lot of concern that if people do end up quitting smoking due to the higher cost, less tax revenue will come in.

"That's a good thing, that's a win, and we have figured that into the initiative," he said.

He added that the state knows revenues are likely togo down, things are in place to adjust.

"When people stop using tobacco, you have better health outcomes," Cooney said. "That's a good thing."

Tuss said these issues are usually painted as partisan issues, although Medicaid expansion passed in 2015 on a bipartisan vote. A large number of Chambers of Commerce across the state jumped on board because they saw the importance it has for Montana's economy, he said.

"This should not be a partisan issue, this is a health care issue," Cooney said.