HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – Governor Greg Gianforte spoke by phone with New Media Broadcasters on Thursday morning to discuss a variety of issues.
Included in the conversation was discussion of the hiring of Mike Randol as head of Montana’s Medicaid Program. A story recently published by Kaiser Health News detailed Randol’s past work privatizing management of Medicaid in Kansas and Iowa.
“We need to do what’s right for Montana. We were thrilled to get him on board. He’s a great talent. We’ve been continuing to upgrade the team at DPHHS. And we have an obligation – I’ve been very clear – the Medicaid expansion we did is now providing services for over 100,000 people. We can’t yank that carpet out from anybody. But there are opportunities – I think better is always possible – and the measurement we’re going to use is are we taking care of the most vulnerable, and are we increasing access, and are we keeping the cost of healthcare down. Those are the tests that we’re going to use for any policy that might be proposed.”
Gianforte also talked about what can be done to prevent mass shootings in America, arguing that strengthening schools and improving mental healthcare would be more effective than placing restrictions on guns.
“I believe the second amendment is very, very clear,” Gianforte said when asked if people under the age of 21 should be able to legally purchase AR-15 style firearms. “I think the issue is the mental health issue. We ought to get people that are ill the help that they need.”
The interview in full can be heard below. Other topics included the ongoing baby formula shortage, the economy, the northern border and the election:
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