Tester to Trump: Let’s Work Together to Lower Costs and Increase Access to Health Care

After Hosting More Than A Dozen Town Halls, Senator Offers to Share Montanans’ Health Care Ideas with President Trump

(Big Sandy, Mont.) – U.S. Senator Jon Tester is reaching out to President Trump to lower costs and increase access to health care in Montana.

In a letter to Trump, Tester highlighted the need for a bipartisan health care solution that lowers premiums, limits out-of-pocket expenses for rural families, and expands access to health insurance for Montanans. Tester is offering to supply the President with the feedback he has heard from Montanans after hosting more than a dozen health care town hall meetings since November.

“I write to you regarding the ongoing challenge of ensuring affordable, accessible health care to all Americans,” Tester wrote. “Any healthcare reform legislation, whether it builds off the work of the Affordable Care Act or starts from scratch, will have a massive impact on our economic security and the lives and livelihoods of everyday Americans, and it deserves careful, open, bipartisan discussion. As you consider options for making health care more affordable and accessible, I am more than happy to sit down with you to provide that perspective. For me and so many Montanans, addressing health care isn’t about scoring political points but rather working together to do what’s right.”

Tester was critical last month of legislation drafted by the House of Representatives to replace the Affordable Care Act because it failed to address the rising cost of health care, forced seniors to unfairly pay more for health insurance, and took money away from Medicare.

During Tester’s health care town hall meetings, he heard from numerous rural hospitals and clinics that raised concern about their ability to stay open if the Affordable Care Act was repealed without a viable replacement plan.

Tester told Trump that any bipartisan health care bill must address the concerns raised in rural states like Montana, and that it is critical to put politics aside and find a solution that lowers costs and increases access to health care, while also protecting Medicare for Montana seniors.

“When it comes to health care, our families and our economy depend on us putting politics aside and working together to find commonsense solutions to lower costs, protect Medicare and increase access to life-saving medical care,” Tester added. “I hope that you and I will have the chance to work together on behalf of these families and the rural communities they proudly call home.”

Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, Montana seniors have saved $56 million in prescription drug costs and 52,000 Montanans have purchased health insurance through the Marketplace.

Tester’s letter to Trump is available HERE.