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State Representative Jim Davnie
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-0173
For more information contact: Charlene Briner 651-296-5809
HOUSE BRIEFS
State Rep. Jim Davnie On the Issues Health Care
Health care access and affordability are among the dominant issues in public policy discussions for good reason—475,000 people in Minnesota lacked health insurance in 2006, an increase of 83,000 since 2001. At the same time that our uninsured rate has increased, the cost of care for those who are fortunate enough to have coverage is also rising. One in five Minnesotans, or about one million people, spend more than 10 percent of their income on health care.
It is clear that action needs to be taken to ensure that all Minnesotans have access to affordable health care. The 2007 legislature directed two groups, the Legislative Commission on Health Care Access and a Health Care Transformation Task Force, to meet throughout interim to develop a set of recommendations for substantial health care reform. These two panels, comprised of a bipartisan group of legislators, as well as community and non-profit leaders, health care providers, small business owners, and representatives from insurance companies and private businesses, focused on topics such as cost containment, affordability, insurance market reform, and public health.
The recommendations put forth by these two groups were remarkably similar and resulted in the introduction of H.F. 3391 in the 2008 legislative session. The dual focus of this ambitious bill is to reduce the number of uninsured individuals in Minnesota and lower the cost of health care for those who do have coverage. This is accomplished through extensive investments into health care homes, public health initiatives, public and private health care program expansions, and payment reforms.
I voted in support of H.F. 3391 when it was initially debated on the House floor. The removal of the provision requiring all individuals to purchase insurance, although delayed in its implementation for several years, was important to my support for the bill. We need to approach health care as a whole state, not an individual issue. I voted for the bill again when the joint House-Senate conference committee report was brought before the body on May 12th. Unfortunately, Governor Pawlenty vetoed the bill on May 13th. After extensive negotiations between leaders in the House and Senate and Governor Pawlenty, a series of reforms were agreed upon as a compromise health care reform package.
Although the reforms in the compromise legislation, S.F. 3780, are not as extensive as the recommendations made by the two panels or the legislation I originally supported on the House floor, I believe it represents the first step towards more significant improvements in our health care system. The key features of S.F. 3780, which passed in the House on May 17th with a 127-7 vote, are:
· Statewide Public Health Improvement Program—a $47 million investment into grant programs for local communities to reduce obesity and smoking rates in an effort to reduce the significant health care spending on chronic conditions.
· Health Care Homes—the creation of a model that improves and rewards access to primary care and coordination of care across multiple areas of the health care system. This approach will be developed through care coordination fees to certified health care homes.
· Affordability Standard and Payment Reform—these reforms are intended to address the rising cost of health care for those who have coverage through an affordability standard of eight percent of income for those below 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Guideline. Improvements in this area include subsidies for those whose employer coverage is not affordable, payment restructuring provisions, such as incentive payments and quality-based pricing, and benefit set reforms.
· Increased Access—provisions were adopted to remove some of the MinnesotaCare barriers to coverage, including expanded eligibility for families and children with incomes up to 275 percent of the Federal Poverty Guideline and 250 percent of the FPG for single adults. A decrease in the amount of uncompensated care will also reduce costs for those with private insurance. Increased access will also be achieved through the expanded use of 125 plans for small employers and tax credits for newly employed individuals.
Every Minnesotan deserves access to quality, affordable health care. The health care reform bills I supported during the 2007-08 biennium will expand access for more than 112,000 Minnesotans and lower the cost of care for those with coverage through investments in public health programs, payment reform initiatives, and an affordability standard.
We need even greater reforms to our health care system. Change must oftentimes take place incrementally and, although I was supportive of even greater expansions and investments this year, the steps that we have taken will pave the way for further improvements in a future legislative session.
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