First Order of Business for Gianforte’s Behavioral Health Fund? Blow $10 Million Taxpayer Dollars on an Outside Consultant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 2, 2023

CONTACT
hadley@montanademocrats.org
 

Helena, MT – At last week’s Behavioral Health Commission meeting, established by HB 872, the Gianforte Administration announced that they would be spending up to $10 million dollars to hire an outside consultant to formulate a ‘strategic plan,’ before putting any funds towards improving the state’s behavioral and mental health care system. 

The consultants’ work is expected to take up to 12 months, and could delay disbursement of these critical funds to serve Montanans until it has been completed. The plan could cost the state nearly $1 million per month in consulting fees. 

“Imagine what $10 million could do for Montanans who need behavioral and mental health care, or for providers who are struggling to keep their facilities open,” said Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. “Instead, that is $10 million in taxpayer dollars going to an outside consultant. In Gianforte’s administration, consultants get rich while Montanans are hung out to dry.” 

Governor Gianforte's style of “leadership” has become crystal clear: 

• Kick the can down the road 

• Blow millions of dollars on outside consultants to tell us what we already know

• Then ignore the recommendations. 

In 2021, Democratic legislators and Montana community health care providers urged the Montana Legislature and the Governor to pass a provider rate increase, to ensure Montana health care facilities that rely on Medicaid funding could remain open. Instead, the Republicans decided to greenlight a $2.75 million dollar study, to “study” the problem. 

The Guidehouse study told us exactly what Montana health care providers had been saying: The state needed to increase the Medicaid rate for providers in order to meet the demand. 

The following legislative session, Montana Democrats brought a bill to meet the recommendations of the Guidehouse study – the Republicans killed most of the efforts. It took months of fighting by Democratic lawmakers and Montanans across the state for the Republicans to finally agree to adequately increase provider rates. 

Montanans have every reason to fear that the Gianforte Administration is going to repeat their costly mistakes, and Montanans seeking behavioral and mental health care services will be the ones who suffer. 

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