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State Representative Jim Abeler
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-1729
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Give the GAMC fix time to work
For months, the cry from many in the media, in the community and at the Capitol was save GAMC. In March, legislators and the Governor forged a reform agreement that uses innovative coordinated care models to preserve care for the GAMC and save taxpayers $700 million. Today, with the new program barely a week old, those same voices are now a source of criticism. Before we cast aside the new program, lets give the GAMC reform a chance to work.
Based on Monday's article "A better path for state General Assistance patients?" it appears the reform is working. In the old program, patients were put into GAMC even when there were other - better - options. This drove up costs because GAMC is an expensive program to administer. With the reform, we gave hospitals the incentive to make sure that if a patient is eligible for a different program, that's where he or she will go. Having duplicative, overlapping government programs is one of the reasons spending has grown out of control. This reform helps eliminate that in the health care sector.
The new GAMC will more likely succeed and remain cost-effective if we keep it focused on providing care and improving health outcomes for the specific GAMC population. Moving forward, lets not just search for whats wrong with the GAMC reform. Lets also search for whats right and what works. Learning how to coordinate care and better treat these individuals in everyone's best interest.
Jim Abeler
State Representative, Anoka
News Items
- State Rep. Jim Abeler Responds to Early MA Expansion - (Posted: 2011-01-05 00:00:00)
- Representative Jim Abeler Named Health & Human Services Committee Chair - (Posted: 2010-11-17 00:00:00)
- "Trouble is, it comes with a cost." - (Posted: 2010-07-06 00:00:00)
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