At least 70,000 Montanans have been denied health care coverage because that state's Republican legislature has refused to accept the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare. Enter the
Healthy Montana Initiative I-170, a grassroots group working to give Montanans the opportunity to vote on Medicaid expansion in November. Who's opposing expanding Medicaid in Montana? Who else but
the Kochs?
Montana is the only state in the country where the battle to expand Medicaid will be fought through ballot initiative—which also means it is the only one you can directly support no matter where you live. But before they get there, they have to come up with 30,000 signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. And they have until June 20 to do it.
The Healthy Montana Initiative shared a fact sheet with Daily Kos via email, and tells us what they need to get there:
Our campaign’s goal is to train over 250 volunteers to carry the I-170 petition and gather signatures in their home communities. We currently have over 200 trained volunteers carrying clipboards from the very eastern part of Montana in Miles City to the beautiful river town of Missoula. We have volunteers in rural Rexford with a population of 149 to the beautiful small town skiing community of Redlodge.
How do they do that? With our help:
- $8 – covers the cost of getting a clipboard into the hands of a volunteer
- $35 – buys one tank of gas for volunteers going door-to-door
- $50 – pays for one training for 10 volunteer signature gatherers
- $100 – buys water, snacks, and materials for a weekend canvass with 25 volunteers
You can help get health care to 70,000 people. Please chip in $5 to the Healthy Montana Initiative to help expand Medicaid in Montana.