Big tobacco has the people of Montana in its sights, and is spending massively to make sure 100,000 Montanans—10 percent of the population—lose the Medicaid coverage they only secured a few years ago. A ballot initiative in Montana would secure permanent funding for the Medicaid expansion the state finally got approved in late 2015, lasting for two years contingent upon finding a funding source. The funding source they landed on is an obvious one for providing healthcare—a tobacco tax. Enter Altria, formerly known as Phillip Morris.
The astroturf group Montanans Against Tax Hikes, the main group opposing the I-185 initiative has received $12 million to fight Montanans' healthcare, about $15 per voter. They've also gotten several hundred thousand from RAI Services (the parent company of RJ Reynolds), meaning 90 percent of their campaign funds to fight the measure come from big tobacco. The initiative would increase taxes on a pack of cigarettes by $2 and introduce a tax on e-cigarettes, which have previously been untaxed. The funding generated wouldn't just go toward Medicaid, but also home health care and suicide prevention in veterans.
But it gives the state an awfully good enemy to fight to keep expansion. In one ad the campaign is running, Gov. Steve Bullock (D-MT) calls them out: "Big tobacco corporations are spending millions of out-of-state dollars misleading Montanans about efforts to protect our health care." Misleading is definitely what they're doing, saying in ads that the measure "doesn't add up" without mentioning the source of the news tax or where the opposition funding is coming from. The official analysis from the state says that the measure would provide plenty of funding for Medicaid, even if it causes a reduction in cigarette consumption.
So big tobacco is continuing its death crusade. Either it will kill by getting people addicted to its products, or it will kill them by taking their health care away.
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