Following Tester Push, Billings Clinic in Townsend to Receive $235,000, Correcting Biden Administration Error

After hearing of a clerical error, Senator called on HRSA to fully fund critical care provider in Townsend

A Critical Access Hospital in Townsend will receive nearly $235,000 following efforts from U.S. Senator Jon Tester. Due to the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) mistaking “Billings Clinic” for a billing company, Billings Clinic Townsend Health Systems recently lost out on $234,253.70 in Provider Relief Funding. After hearing of the error, Tester held Washington bureaucracy accountable and sent aletter pushing HRSA officials to reverse their decision and get Billings Clinic these resources.

“Montana’s rural hospitals, particularly our Critical Access Hospitals, already face major barriers and run on razor-thin margins—and when we saw a mistake that prevented one of these clinics from getting their funding, we got to work,” said Tester. “I’m glad to see the Billings Clinic receive these dollars that should’ve been theirs in the first place, and I’m going to continue fighting to support our essential health care providers in rural communities.”

As a third-generation farmer from a town of less than 600 people, Tester has been a consistent voice for bolstering rural health care access. He has successfully fought to lower drug prices through measures in his Inflation Reduction Act, and by closing a loophole in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that allowed Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) to retroactively charge excessive fees. He also re-introduced his bipartisan Rural Physician Workforce Production Act with Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) to incentivize young physicians to build their careers in rural hospitals, and ensure those facilities have the resources they need to recruit and retain doctors for the long haul.