Tester Applauds Court Decision On Critical Health Care Payments

Tester: I will Defend Montanans from Harmful Decisions that Force Us to Pay More for Health Care

(U.S. Senate)-U.S. Senator Jon Tester today issued the following statement after a Court of Federal Claims judge ruled in favor of the Montana Health Co-Op in its lawsuit against the Administration for ending cost-sharing reduction payments:

“Folks need certainty in the marketplace in order to lower health care costs. Cost sharing reduction payments are critical to lowering prices for the thousands of Montanans who purchase health insurance. Withholding these payments has caused health insurance costs to rise and Montanans have been forced to pay the price. It is time to stop playing politics with health care and work in a bipartisan way to lower the cost of health care.”

The Administration ended cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers in 2017, which are used to lower deductibles, co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses for 15,000 Montanans.

Tester asked Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale and Montana health insurance companies last year to provide more pricing transparency when the administration ended cost-sharing reduction payments.

Tester is sponsoring multiple bills to lower the cost of health care for Montanans. Information on those bills is available HERE.