SB-405, Sen. Ed Buttrey’s Medicaid expansion bill that cuts the income of the poorest of the poor, was blasted from the MT House’s health and human services committee today. It goes to the second reading tomorrow. Mike Dennison has the story at the Missoulian.
I thought this bill was dead. I was wrong.
It’s not clear to me which version of SB-405 goes to the second reading. The PDF of the bill that I downloaded at 1800 MDT today is dated 27 March 2015. This is the version of the bill that passed the MT Senate last week.
The Senate’s version of SB-405 provides health insurance for up to 45,000 of the 70,000 or so thought to be eligible for expanded Medicaid. It also slaps a de facto two percent income tax on all Medicaid recipients, including the poorest of the poor. It’s a mean spirited, teach the poor a lesson, piece of legislation. See my 18 March and 19 March posts for more details.
I commend the determination of the legislators who blasted the bill out of committee. I condemn the legislation into which they breathed new life. It violates the principle of first, do no harm.