Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Montana’s Democrat Governor Worries Health Law Could Make State “Broke”

From Montana yesterday came a report about a press conference by Democrat Governor Brian Schweitzer regarding the health care overhaul.  A Great Falls television station reported the following comments from the Governor about the law:

“As the manager of Montana’s budget, I am worried because there are only three states that will increase the number of people on Medicaid at a faster rate than Montana, thanks to the new health care bill….My job is to try and find ways to go forward that Montana can continue to fund Medicaid and not be like 48 other states – broke.”

Gov. Schweitzer is not the first Democrat governor to raise concerns about the impact of 18 million new Medicaid enrollees on state budgets; last year Tennessee’s Governor, Phil Bredesen, termed the Medicaid expansion the “mother of all unfunded mandates.”  It is worth noting however, that Montana’s own Max Baucus has publicly claimed he “essentially” wrote the health care bill that became law, raising questions about why a Montana senator wrote a law that Montana’s governor (of the same political party) believes could make the state “broke.”