HELENA — Congress may not know what to do about former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, but Montana lawmakers are pushing through legislation they believe will bring down health care costs and increase price transparency regardless of what happens in Washington.
A half-dozen measures are still alive as the 2017 legislative session enters its final days. One would allow the state insurance commissioner to draw up plans for a high-risk insurance pool and another would authorize out-of-state insurers to sell policies in Montana.
Two bills are meant to better inform patients about prices for health care services, and know what their insurers will and won’t cover.
Another bill would give tax credits to small companies that offer high-deductible health insurance plans to their employees. The sixth measure calls for a study on health care price transparency.