by Hillery Daily, Darby
Having spent more than three decades as a health professional, I pride myself on being sensible and practical. Montana’s three-term Senator, Jon Tester, has secured many sensible and practical wins for healthcare.
Here are five healthcare-related reasons to re-elect Jon Tester:
1) Capped insulin to $35/month, gave Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices for seniors
2) Secured $220 million to help rural hospitals and clinics
3) Improving telehealth services and expanding access to high speed internet so all Montanans can use these services
4) Supported veterans with the PACT Act and 12 new VA clinics in MT
5) Will protect Medicare from being privatized or turned into a voucher system.
One reason I will not vote for Tim Sheehy: Tim Sheehy has called for “pure privatization” of health care. This would mean local community hospitals like the Bitterroot Health-Daly Hospital would lose federal funding, and could potentially shut down. Rural hospitals in Montana are not profitable on their own because of our smaller populations. Without federal funding, they could close.
This has not happened yet, but it could if Tim Sheehy is elected.
It seems only sensible and practical to vote for candidates whose policies affect ourselves, our families and communities’ lives directly and meaningfully. We must re-elect Jon Tester to protect our rural health care.