health care reform: Does That Mean You’re Opting Out?

Three Montana Republican lawmakers penned a column for D.C. newspaper POLITICO, criticizing Democratic Sen. Max Baucus and charging that – because of his performance during the national health care reform debate – he is disconnected from the “real Montana.” Legislators Tom McGillvray, Cary Smith and Gary MacLaren also vow that next legislative session, in 2011, they will sponsor their own version of health care reform. From their piece in POLITICO:

The stakes are high, with nearly one in seven Montanans uninsured.

That’s why it’s not enough just to protect patients’ rights. We must also work to build a vibrant, private health insurance market and encourage individual ownership of health insurance. And Montanans know that health reform shouldn’t be the job of just Baucus and his friends in Congress.

Therefore, in the next state legislative session, we will sponsor legislation to allow consumers to purchase health insurance across state lines, establish an institutional check on costly health insurance mandates, give state tax breaks for individuals who purchase health insurance on their own and encourage health savings accounts as a means to cover the uninsured.

That also must mean the lawmakers will be voting with state Sen. Roy Brown to opt out of any federal health care reform plan passed by Congress. The early themes emerging for the 2011 legislative session: health care and property taxes.

Fun.