State Employee Health Clinic Opens Its Doors - KULR8.com | Montana's News Leader | Billings, MT

Earlier this week, the state of Montana opened a brand new clinic for state employees, aimed at keeping healthcare costs down.

The clinic will provide basic primary care to the nearly 2,000 state workers in the region. Everything from physicals to preventative care will be done for workers and their families. And all without any co-pays or deductibles. With the state able to control costs directly through these clinics, both the state and employees end up paying less for healthcare.

"They actually have reduced costs because they can come to us and they don't have any out of pocket. If they go to their regular doctor, they might have an additional out of pocket expense," said the clinic's physician's assistant Mary Beth Fisette.

"We're really proud of what we're doing here in Montana and our employees are receiving quality care at a lower cost. And that's something that we're really excited about," said Karen Wood, who serves as Montana's deputy administrator for healthcare and benefits.

Montana is the first state government to setup clinics like this for employees and this is the second one to open in the state.

Helena had the first clinic open up in August 2012 and according to state officials, has proven to be a big success.