Viewpoint: GOP slashing health care programs and hurting Montanans
Rep. Tom France
In passing President Trump’s big “beautiful” tax cut bill earlier this year, Republicans in Congress slashed support for affordable health care insurance to offset tax breaks for the wealthy.
As a result, millions of Americans—and 77,000 Montanans—face dramatically increasing insurance rates that will affect both their access to medical care and the viability of many hospitals, especially in rural areas.
In the face of these impacts, Senator Steve Daines recently declared, “The current situation is entirely of the Democrats’ own making.”
What alternative universe do you live in, Steve?
What is clearly true is that Democrats in Congress and in Montana have long worked to make health care more affordable, while Republicans have fought these reforms—even while offering no solutions to the health care dilemma.
A major turning point in expanding access to affordable health care came in 2009 with the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The law created state and federal insurance marketplaces, expanded Medicaid in participating states, and—critically—ended discriminatory practices such as denying coverage to individuals with pre-existing medical conditions.
Today, more than 24 million Americans receive health insurance through ACA marketplaces, including over 77,000 Montanans. These are working families, farmers, ranchers, gig-economy workers, small-business owners, and early retirees—people who do not have access to employer-sponsored insurance and rely on the ACA to keep themselves and their families healthy.
Senator Daines apparently missed the fact that affordable health care has bipartisan support in Montana. Republicans and Democrats passed—and Governor Gianforte signed—a bill in this year’s legislative session that permanently reauthorized the ACA’s Medicaid program. This program has provided affordable coverage to tens of thousands of Montanans and has strengthened rural hospitals, clinics, and critical-access medical facilities across the state.
But while Montana has taken steps to stabilize and protect affordable coverage, Republicans in Congress—including Senator Daines and every other member of Montana’s congressional delegation—have voted to slash the ACA subsidies that keep insurance premiums affordable for middle- and lower-income Americans. When these cuts take effect at the end of the year, many Montanans will see their monthly costs skyrocket, and some will be forced to drop coverage entirely.
Insurance companies are already warning about the impact. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, one of the state’s major ACA carriers, is projecting premium increases of 23% to 33% for its marketplace plans once the congressional cuts take effect. For a family purchasing insurance on the marketplace, that could mean hundreds of additional dollars per month—money many simply do not have.
While Senator Daines blames Democrats for health care reforms that have clearly benefited Montanans, his silence—and the silence of other congressional Republicans—in the face of these looming hikes is striking. Working Montanans will now either pay more for basic health coverage or go uninsured so that high-income households and large corporations can enjoy new tax advantages.
For years, Republicans have demanded to know what Democrats would do to make health care more affordable. The ACA answered that question—and has improved millions of lives. Now the question is reversed: What, exactly, will Steve Daines and Republicans do for Montanans who will soon face double-digit premium increases or the loss of coverage altogether?
Representative Tom France represents House District 99 in Missoula. France, a Democrat, joined with 93 other Republican and Democratic legislators to pass Medicaid reauthorization through the Montana House and Senate in the 2025 Legislative Session. Governor Gianforte signed the bill on March 27, 2025.