Bachmeier: Regrets voting for Windy Boy's health care bill

Rep. Jacob Bachmeier, D-Havre, said Friday he regrets voting for a bill sponsored by Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, that would set up training for people providing health care on Indian reservations.

“I voted for the bill and I, with all due respect to Jonathan, regret voting for the bill, and I have come to oppose the bill,” Bachmeier said from Helena during a legislative teleconference in Havre.

House Bill 599 would create a two-year training for people providing medical assistance, medical care, home health care services, private-duty nursing services, dental services, physical therapy, mental health, clinical services, prescription drugs, dentures, prosthetic devices, eyeglasses and screenings. The bill would require the training to meet the standards of the federal certifying body, the Community Health Aide Program

Windy Boy said that the program allows Native American reservations to receive health aids and benefits which have been previously inaccessible to them.

“There is a lot of misinformation, a lot of false information that is roaming around the halls here in Montana, especially in the Havre area, of what the bill does not do and what they are trying to do,” Windy Boy said.

A similar bill was passed and has been active in the state of Alaska since the 1960s, he said. CHAP is a nationwide program and other states since the 1960s have adopted similar bills, he added.

“This bill is not new,” Windy Boy said. “This has been in place in the United State.”

Windy Boy said that the bill needs to be approved for the state to come into compliance with the CHAP program, so Montana would be in compliance with its standards.

The whole purpose of CHAP, he said, is to provide tribes with services which are not accessible to them due to a low number of medical providers. Dental care is a big part for tribal members, he said.

Bachmeier said a few things bother him about the bill, particularly the scope of practice.

“This bill does not require tribes to participate in the national CHAP board,” he said.

He said the fact that tribes’ participation in the national board would be optional is something that concerns him.

He sympathizes with the idea, he said. Tribes are in desperate need of aid on reservations, but removing participation from CHAP board could result in a variety of issues.

He said he is also concerned with the expansion of services that could be provided without the person certified having a medical degree.

Bachmeier said some language from the bill — “An individual may, without obtaining a license under this title, provide health care services” — concerns him because it could possibly mean uncertified people are able to practice.

He said he thinks the the bill flew through the transmittal period in the Legislature and the House did not have enough time for a full debate.

“I do think that there is a way to approach this bill,” Bachmeier said. “But I am concerned with the way that this bill approaches the issue.”

Windy Boy said that reservations already have aids for mental and behavioral health practicing. Dental aids, he said, are the last critical piece they need.

Dental aids would be able to reach out and work with tribal members who need dental care and get them into clinics for professional dental care, he said.

“We are historically underserved with dentists due to (Indian Health Services’) budget or dental programs,” he said. “Tribal health departments refer tribal members to outside dentists to alleviate backlogs that every tribal dental program suffers from.”

Windy Boy said, for example, Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation sends children to Helena for dental care because they do not have enough providers.

He added that the scope of practice and requirements are outlined in the bill.

“This being labeled as low level, substandard training is bogus,” he said. “This is federal law and the only reason I bring this to state Legislature is to put the state Legislature process in sync with what federal law is.”

He said that the concerns and issues about the bill are incorrect.

“It may sound like the cart before the horse, but this is how we have to interact with the federal government” Windy Boy said.

Windy Boy said that those who oppose the bill have accused him of trying to pass something which would hurt the Native American community, but that is not the case. He said he will continue to stand with those in his district and others in Montana and not back down from trying to pass his bill.

Bachmeier said that the lack of medical care is a big issue across Montana.

“I understand what he is trying to do and I, personally, feel like this isn’t the right way to approach the (issue),” he said.

Windy Boy: Medicaid expansion likely to remain

Windy Boy said that after the hearing last week, he is sure the Medicaid bill, House Bill 425, introduced by Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, will pass.

He said it will most likely pass after having parts of the other bill, House Bill 658, introduced by Rep. Edward Buttrey, R-Great Falls, added to it.

“Mary Caferro’s bill is going to pass, I know that, because they are trying to put the work requirement in the bill,” Windy Boy said. “That’s how things work here.”

Bachmeier said that what he has heard from leadership is that it is too soon to tell. He added that it is possible nobody will know for sure what is going on with Medicaid until later in the legislative session.

“I think that it is completely up in the air and I don’t think anybody has a complete idea of what is going to happen, including everybody in leadership,” he said.

He said that he supports Caferro’s bill as is, however, bills rarely pass as they are originally written.

Windy Boy and Bachmeier agreed that if Medicaid isn’t broken there is no need to fix it.

Absentee ballot early counting expected to pass

Hill County Commissioner Mike Wendland said at the teleconference that he had some concerns with Senate Bill 162, which would allow election officials to count absentee ballots earlier. He said the bill greatly benefits areas with larger population, while possibly excluding smaller, more rural areas because of the voter requirements.

Sen. Roger Webb, R-Billings, sponsored the bill, which would allow election administrators to verify the validity of mail-in ballots up to three business days before Election Day and allow tabulation of certain ballots to begin a day before Election Day.

Election administrators now must wait until Election Day to handle the mail-in ballots.

Wendland said the requirements for the number of voters to be eligible could exclude smaller, more rural areas.

Bachmeier said that the bill will most likely be passed. He added that he is hoping there will be some amendments added to change voting requirement to include smaller communities.

“I think we’ll get it through,” he said.

Bachmeier said that, to his knowledge, 12 counties in Montana count votes entirely by hand rather than using a voting machine. He said he wants to amend the bill so that is the requirement, whether a county has a machine to count votes, rather than the number of voters.

Wendland also said he is concerned that Secretary of State Corey Stapleton said the bill could increase voting fraud. He said the Hill County Clerk and Recorder’s Office is very conscious of fraud and is confident in the system they use to prevent it.

Bachmeier said that many Democrats and Republicans did not agree with the secretary of state’s concerns of voting fraud.

“Many Democrats and Republicans alike left the committee hearing very disappointed with the secretary of state’s office and very disturbed with the secretary of state’s office. Very angry with them,” Bachmeier said.

Bachmeier added that Director of Elections Dana Corson compared voting fraud to littering, saying voting fraud could be rampant in Montana but nobody cares enough to notice it.

“So my argument is, if there is rampant voting fraud in Montana, why aren’t you doing your job?” Bachmeier said. “ … I think what the real problem is that he was spreading fear mongering. There is no proof that there has been any voting tampering in our elections.

“I’m very proud of our clerk and recorders,” Bachmeier said. “I’m very proud of our secure processes in the state of Montana and wildly disturbed with some of the comments from his office in that committee hearing. I was very offended, very upset.”