HELENA, Mont. – A bill to increase individual control over healthcare options by allowing Montana to enter an interstate health care compact has been vetoed by Governor Steve Bullock.
HB 266, sponsored by Representative Nancy Ballance (HD87), allows Montana to be included in an interstate compact of member states seeking to protect individual liberty and personal control over heath care decisions. The interstate compact is the best method to achieve these ends by vesting regulatory authority over health care in the states, not the federal government.
“Instead of standing on the side of individual choice and local control when it comes to healthcare, Governor Bullock has once again sided with failed Obamacare policies,” Ballance stated. “The primary reason given for the veto is that the governor vetoed this bill last session, but that doesn’t make it any less of a good idea for the people of Montana.”
Montana’s Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, Matt Rosendale, made the following statement on the Governor’s decision to veto HB 266:
“This is yet another disappointing veto by the Governor that will limit our ability to collaborate with our neighbor states to lower insurance costs. We’ll keep fighting to improve access and reduce health care costs despite the Governor’s obstruction.”