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Tester wants CHIP, health centers funded

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., urged Congress during a telephone press conference Wednesday to extend funding for the federal Children's Health Insurance Program and community health care centers.

Congress failed in September to reauthorize funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, and the Community Health Center Fund.

"We were fooling around with goofy health care bills in June and July when we should have been getting this authorized and it's real unfortunate that that is where we are at now," Tester said.

CHIP provides low-cost health insurance to children from families with too much income to be eligible for Medicaid, healthcare.gov says.

In Montana CHIP is provided through the Montana Healthy Kids program.

Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., said in a telephone town hall Tuesday night that he and the House voted to reauthorize CHIP for five years, but the Senate has not taken it up.

Tester said disagreements about how to fund the extension of CHIP has been a sticking point with Republicans proposing to extend funding by transferring money from other programs.

He said Congress should be able to renew CHIP without diverting money from other necessary programs.

"If Congress can jam through a partisan plan to give big corporations permanent tax breaks, they should be able to find the money to make sure Montana families don't lose their health insurance." Tester said.

In an email later Wednesday Tester spokesperson Luke Jackson said the House bill diverts money from the Prevention and Public Health Fund.

Healthcare.gov says the fund was established as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, to finance community and public health initiatives, health care infrastructure, research and public health training.

The Community Health Center Fund also needs to be replenished, Tester said. The fund is a main source of funding for community health centers. The Montana Primary Care Association's website says there are 17 such centers in Montana, including Bullhook Medical Center in Havre and Sweet Medical Center in Chinook.

Tester added that more than 100,000 Montanans depend on the health centers for checkups, cancer screenings and other medical care.

The temporary stop-gap measure that funds the government until Dec. 22 will soon run out, and Tester said he thinks that will be the best chance to restore funding for CHIP and the health fund.

However, he said the longer it takes to reauthorize funding, the more uncertainty it will cause for families and hospitals.

Tester also slammed the tax bill pushed by congressional Republicans as a handout to the wealthy and corporations.

Montanans., he said, tell him they do not like how provisions in the House and Senate drafts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 permanently cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations, but reductions for the middle class are temporary.

The legislation, he said, would add as much as $2 trillion to the national debt.

"We all want tax breaks, but not on the backs of our kids," Tester said.

The bill, he said, would also eliminate the individual mandate in the ACA, which requires people to purchase health insurance or pay an annual fine.

Tester said stripping away the mandate could mean a 10 percent spike in the cost of health insurance and that 13 million people could lose their health insurance,

The bill is a top priority for President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans. Different drafts of the legislation passed the U.S. House and Senate recently. Tester voted against the Senate version and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., for it, while Gianforte voted for the House version.

A reconciled bill is expected to be voted on next week.

If a proposal to do away with federal net neutrality rules is ultimately passed, Tester said, the changes will be devastating for the internet.

"This makes no sense to me whatsoever," Tester said."The internet has always been free, open and accessible to everybody regardless of how much money you have."

He said doing away with the rules would enable internet providers the chance to slow down internet speeds, charge more for faster speeds and charge to access certain sites or services.

Rolling back the two-year-old regulations could make the internet something that big business can manipulate, Tester said.

"And I think that is a huge, huge mistake," he said.

Tester said he hopes that Tuesday's upset win by Democrat Doug Jones in the Alabama special Senate election Tuesday will mean a return to bipartisanship in the Senate.

"Hopefully it will result in more talking between the sides to get a bill that reflects the United States, not just one opinion of a bunch of guys in a back room," he said.

 

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