House restores money for veterans home

The Montana House recently voted to restore funding for the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls to current levels, turning back a move that would have forced the facility to privatize its operations.

Rep. Jerry O’Neil, R-Columbia Falls, said the House voted 56-44 for an amendment to House Bill 2 on Friday night that effectively reversed the funding cut that had been approved by a Joint Health and Human Services Appropriations subcommittee.

“I believe all the Flathead County Republican representatives voted for that amendment,” said O’Neil, whose district includes the veterans home.

The facility was slated to lose $847,000 in cigarette tax funding this year and an additional $1.4 million next year. Those cuts were intended to force the privatization of the veterans home, which currently is staffed by state employees.

That change was prompted by a report that compared the Columbia Falls facility with the privately operated Eastern Montana Veterans Home in Glendive, finding a striking disparity in operating costs.

The Glendive facility had a $24,445 per-patient cost in 2010 while the Columbia Falls facility had $105,571 per-patient cost.

But the study also raised questions about whether the comparison was valid because of significant differences between the two facilities.

The Montana Veterans Home has, for example, an in-house pharmacy that serves veterans who live in the Flathead Valley, and there are significant costs in maintaining the sprawling campus and historic buildings.

That led Flathead Valley lawmakers to question the funding cuts and the sudden switch to a private-care facility, and it generated instant opposition from veterans groups.

It’s uncertain what the Montana Senate will do when House Bill 2 is forwarded from the House, but Sen. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, has vowed to oppose veterans home funding cuts. Zinke is a veteran himself and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

“I don’t know what the Senate will do, but considering the margin that [the amendment] passed with in the House, if the Senate strips it I think the House will put it back in,” O’Neil said.

However, O’Neil said he anticipates there will be further scrutiny, possibly a more detailed report, on the costs of operating the Montana Veterans Home.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.