Brown wants MT to opt out of healthcare reform - Montana's News Station - Fair. Accurate. To the Point. -

Brown wants MT to opt out of healthcare reform - Montana's News Station - Fair. Accurate. To the Point. -: "A landmark health care reform bill narrowly cleared the House over the weekend with a 220-215 vote and now the measure heads to the Senate where its future seems much more uncertain.

The House plan calls for 36,000,000 uninsured Americans would get coverage. The bill would cost $1.2 trillion over 10 years, but it will cut $400 hundred from Medicare expenses.

While some are very pleased with the newly passed plan, others are still finding faults, with one Montana legislator saying that the state can't afford the measure.

State Senator Roy Brown (R-Billings) plans to introduce legislation that would allow Montana to opt out of the health care bill.

“There isn't any thing in the Constitution that says the federal government should be involved with health care,” Brown told us.

He and several other Republican legislators say the House bill will add 60,000 to 80,000 people to Medicaid in Montana, something Brown calls “a budget buster for Montana”.

So, the Republican says he will introduce legislation that takes back control for the state. “20 different states across the country are already looking into this very situation, where their states could opt out of what's going on in Washington, D.C.” Brown said.

But, he wants more than an opt out. Brown says the costs can come down with competition in health insurance, medical malpractice reform, eliminating waste, fraud and abuse, incentives for healthy lifestyles, tax credits, and the use of community health centers."