Two of Montana’s congressional candidates squared off Saturday night for their final debate before November’s election.
Republican incumbent Greg Gianforte and Democratic challenger Kathleen Williams’ debate took place on a closed Montana PBS set in Bozeman.
A fact check of the candidates' cliams by the University of Montana Journalism Schools Community News Service is available here. [1]
Some of the evening’s most pointed moments centered on healthcare.
Gianforte repeatedly declared his opposition to a government-run, single payer healthcare system. He accuses Williams of supporting so-called ‘Medicare for All,' "which ultimately will steal dollars from seniors," Gianforte said. "It will ultimately be ‘Medicare for None’. Economists say that if we actually went there, it would cost $32-trillion-dollars and every American would have their income tax rates doubled.”
That analysis is apparently of a plan forwarded by Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders, by a university-based libertarian policy center[2]. Gianforte supports expanding access to health savings accounts and association health care plans. Association plans allow small businesses to band together by geography or industry to obtain healthcare coverage as if they were a single large employer.
Kathleen Williams, who supports medicare buy-in programs, brushes off Gianforte’s approaches as, "Little piecemeal, window dressing ‘I support this, I support that,' but actions speak louder than words, Congressman.”
Williams then mentioned Giandforte’s support for the failed Graham-Cassidy health care amendment which would have repealed Obamacare, returned control of the Medicaid program to the states and capped the program’s funding.
Williams asserts Graham-Cassidy would have increased health care costs for seniors and scaled back Montana’s expanded Medicaid rolls.
“Congressman, you did express support for Graham-Cassidy, didn’t you?” Williams asked twice and, after getting no response said, "I
