Rosendale supports “junk” health care plans

Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale doesn’t meet with Montanans or take their questions very often, but if he did, I would ask him these questions: Why would you rubber stamp health insurance rate increases for working Montana families already struggling to afford their health care? And why would you push for health care plans that can refuse to cover the health care of 152,000 Montanans you claim you want to represent and protect?

Montanans may not hear the answer before they cast their ballots this November. But we deserve to know why Rosendale would use his office as insurance commissioner to expand “junk” health care plans that can deny coverage to Montanans with preexisting conditions. This isn’t standing up for Montanans or doing his job — this is throwing us under the bus.

These “junk” health care plans, which don’t have to cover basic health care services and can deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions, are terrible for people’s health overall. The sticker price may seem cheaper, but that’s only until you realize the plans don’t even have to cover basic prescription drugs or routine health care.

Insurance Commissioner Rosendale knows this. He held a fundraiser with those kinds of insurance executives. He just ignores it, because “junk” health care plans allow health insurance companies to make a quick buck.

Rosendale was elected to regulate these industries that exploit Montanans, and instead, he took their money and expanded their kind of insurance. We don’t need more of this kind of help!

—Mark Hull,

Missoula