State Legislature 2020: Terry Dennis

I have worked my entire career to improve access to necessary healthcare for all Americans. The attacks on expanded access from Federal elected officeholders and the fragile support for recent improvements in  Montana are a major motivator for seeking office.

I have worked as an epidemiologist and to improve public health in Montana. I feel the legislature needs people with my knowledge and experience in this arena. As we seek to subdue the current epidemic, we need to develop  policy that prevents a future similar event  (this epidemic is not the last) and helps us recover from this crisis.

Expanding healthcare coverage and access using well regulated private and public financing. Controlling wasteful spending in the financing component of our health care system and protecting essential clinical services.

Family friendly policies that promote family development, reduce the “brain drain” of young Montanans moving elsewhere, and encourage potential employees from elsewhere to look at Montana as an enticing place to raise a family and have a satisfying career.

Ongoing lifelong education, career development and retraining is a crucial component for Montana to offer high quality jobs as the economy rapidly changes.

If Montana’s economy is going to grow in the future, the key component is increasing the number, education, and training of young people. Increasing the productivity of current employees is perhaps a near term intervention that will expand to economy. Policies that encourage full time jobs and discourage the excessive use of part time jobs will quickly increase the productivity of the involuntarily part-time employees., “Demography is destiny” and will overwhelm any policies that do not address this problem.

We have representative democracy. The individual sent to Helena for 90 days has received input from constituents in the campaign and election completed 2 months before. I have made hundreds if not thousands of phone calls and home visits to voters in my district and will make thousands more before the election. This input will be crucial to inform my decision making in Helena, The representative has an obligation to honor that input but will be forced to act on all the information they are receiving on multiple issues in a very short period of time. It that instance the representative is going to have to judge what best benefits the constituency not the representative’s personal feelings.

Compromise is essential to the legislative process. I was on the Board of the American Rural Health Association when it merged with the National Rural Primary Care Association to form the National Rural Health Association. I was on the Legislative authorized and Governor appointed Montana Public Health Improvement Task Force in the mid-1990s which included county commissioners, Legislators, State employees, and representatives of various State organizations. We developed a consensus report the Governor and the Legislature that included the public health response to a new infectious disease.

I believe Local option authority should in principle be supported. believe Montana should consider different property tax assessments for owner occupied and recreational properties (second homes).

The best protection for businesses is effective science based guidelines on how to operate in this new environment.  With those in place, businesses who are diligent should have limited liability.  This also provides a potential basis for insurers to start developing risk assessments that can lead to reasonable coverage options. Liability law should recognize good faith efforts to mitigate risk.

If employers are unable or unwilling to provide employer based insurance then public options need to be available. If “work” requirements are shown to be effective in stimulating people moving into the workforce then that might be something to be continued. Whether “work” requirements can be equitably managed remains to be seen and may be an unnecessary and wasteful bureaucratic expansion. Medicaid expansion should have permanent authorization. I don’t know the definition of “full funding”.

Mental health and addiction problems have downstream impacts that drive public safety concerns, healthcare costs, lack of employment, etc. etc. Defunding these services is penny-wise and dollar foolish.

Assuming that the intent of the private investment would be to generate better jobs for Montanans, the success of such a model is fundamentally dependent on having an educated engaged workforce.  Minnesota and Pennsylvania have robust higher education systems that are a consistent draw for young people from other locales who in turn become employees and citizens that fuel such a public private partnership.  Increasing post-secondary education and training in Billings and the State is crucial to long term economic success for our community and State.

I don’t believe private entities should have “reimbursement” with public funds until they are operational in a real sense.  Reimbursement should be tied to the financing structure of the project.  The less equity the private entity puts in up front the less the public should reimburse “expenses”.  As that private equity increases then the public reimbursement can increase.