Amazing Speaker for The Mary McCue Montana NAMIWalk Kick Off Lunch
NAMI Montana works to improve the lives of Montanans with mental health conditions and their families through support, education, and advocacy. One of our biggest ongoing efforts is improving access to care—and access to care is impossible without a reliable payment source such as private insurance, Medicaid, or other coverage.
When I first joined NAMI Montana in June 2008, there was a serious gap in available coverage for many working Montanans. These were people who earned too much to qualify for Montana Medicaid, but not enough to afford private insurance or access an employer-sponsored plan.
Many of the people we served were caught in this difficult situation while living with symptoms of mental health conditions that made it hard to fully succeed at work. Yet they couldn’t get the care they needed to treat those symptoms.
It was a true Catch-22—and if an inpatient hospitalization occurred, it could also lead to crushing medical debt and even medical bankruptcy.
Why Medicaid Expansion Matters
In 2015, Montana passed Medicaid Expansion. The impact of this policy effort—led by then Senator Ed Buttrey—was transformative for access to mental health care across the state.
Medicaid Expansion was also a major political effort that required:
Reauthorization in 2019, and
continued advocacy to remove the sunset provision in 2025.
Featured Speaker: Ed Buttrey
We are delighted to welcome Ed Buttrey as the featured speaker at this year’s Mary McCue Montana NAMIWalk Kick Off Lunch.
This is a great opportunity to:
learn about one of Montana’s biggest recent health care advocacy successes, and
take lessons from that success as we prepare for current and upcoming mental health advocacy fights.
Event Details
Mary McCue Montana NAMIWalk Kick Off Lunch
Location: Basement of Saint Mary’s Church
Date: Thursday, August 14
Time: Noon to 1:00 p.m.
Register or Donate
You can register a team or donate here:
https://www.namiwalks.org/montana
Thank you!
Matt Kuntz
Executive Director
https://www.namimt.org