Dark Money, Koch-Funded Outside Group Launches Latest Attempt to Bail Out Rosendale

Americans For Prosperity Launches New Television Ad to Hide Rosendale’s Terrible Health Care Record

Billings—This week, the Koch Network group Americans For Prosperity dumped more cash into Montana in an effort to cover up Matt Rosendale’s terrible record of failing to stand up to insurance companies for Montanans.

We can understand the Koch brothers’ support for Rosendale—he voted with them 100 percent of the time, and stood with them against making health care more affordable for nearly 100,000 Montanans. We can also understand why Americans For Prosperity wouldn’t want to talk about Rosendale’s terrible health care record in their newest television ad—it would never fit into 30 seconds.

As state insurance commissioner, Rosendale has bent over backwards for insurance companies while throwing Montana families under the bus. After hiring an insurance industry lobbyist to help run his office, Rosendale rubber-stamped average health insurance rate increases of up to 23 percent and has since raised tens of thousands of dollars from the insurance industry for his campaign.

Rosendale also supports “junk” health insurance plans that are not required to cover even the most basic medical services—including prescription drugs or maternity care—and can deny coverage to Montanans with pre-existing conditions.

Rosendale also wants to repeal the current health care law in its entirety, which would jack up costs for Montanans and gut the coverage and health care benefits it provides to tens of thousands of Montanans who previously could be denied affordable health care—including Montana women, Native Americans, and Montanans with pre-existing conditions.

Unfortunately, Montanans may never know who funded Rosendale’s latest bailout. Recently, the United States Treasury decided it will no longer require politically active dark money groups such as Americans For Prosperity to disclose information about their high-dollar donors. Jon Tester has introduced legislation to overturn that decision.

“Matt Rosendale doesn’t stand up for Montana families—he votes in lockstep with his campaign bankrollers and party bosses instead,” said Montanans for Tester spokesperson Luke Jackson. “Instead of fighting to keep health care costs low for Montanans, Rosendale has supported policies to slash their coverage, spike their health insurance rates, and gut the programs that they rely on for critical health care. Montanans deserve better.”

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