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State Representative Jeanne Poppe
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4193
For more information contact: Sandy Connolly 651-296-8877
NEWS COLUMN
HEALTH CARE QUICKLY BECOMING NUMBER ONE CONCERN FOR MINNESOTANS
One of the most significant challenges facing our state, and our nation, is the rising cost of health care.
Whether it's access to coverage or the high cost of treatment and prescriptions, over 80 percent of Minnesotans rank health care as their number one issue of concern. Even those who are fortunate to have good insurance worry what will happen if they should lose it.
The United State Census Bureau estimates that 475,000 Minnesotans (9.2%) are uninsured. A survey released this week by Families USA illustrates how serious this is. According to their data, three working-aged Minnesotans die every week due to lack of health insurance. This is attributed to the fact that the uninsured often go without screenings and preventive care, and they delay or forego needed medical care. For example, uninsured women are substantially more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stage breast canter than women with private insurance.
It isn't just the uninsured who are struggling. For the 93 percent of Minnesotans with health insurance, the costs have outpaced the increase in per capita income over the past few years. It is easy to see that if this continues, the average Minnesota family will not be able to keep up with health care costs.
For the past nine months, members of the Governor's Health Care Transformation Task Force have been meeting to develop legislation that will address these issues. After much deliberation, they have arrived at a reform package, which will be heard next week in the House Finance Committee. Making sure Minnesotans have affordable health care choices is the key to the plan. They are also focusing on health improvement such as reducing smoking and obesity, reductions in administrative costs, and improvements in how care is delivered to bring down the price of health insurance and make it more affordable for everyone.
The unique aspect of the push to pass health care reform this year is the broad coalition of supporters. Labor and business groups, medical providers, HMOs and consumers have all endorsed this package, and agree the time is now to move forward.
One of the challenges is the fact that our state is facing a budget deficit, and as a result, budget cuts will have to be made. The key to funding the health care package is to keep the Health Care Access Fund (HCAF) intact. This self-supporting fund was established in 1992 to help manage the MinnesotaCare program, which is designed to provide low-cost health care to Minnesotans and to promote certain activities related to health care access. The fund receives its revenues from provider taxes (including hospitals, surgical centers and other health care providers), premiums on behalf of MinnesotaCare enrollees, a 1% gross premiums tax, and federal matching funds.
Between fiscal years 2004 and 2007, a total of $486 million from the Health Care Access Fund was transferred into the General Fund to help address the budget deficit. As a result, thousands of Minnesotans lost their MinnesotaCare coverage, including 68,000 children. Last year, we passed legislation that would bring the number of uninsured children down significantly, as well as use the HCAF dollars to extend benefits to working adults without children who are not covered under an employer plan.
This year, the Governor is again recommending that HCAF dollars be used to address the budget deficit, instead of being dedicated to health care as it was intended. The proposal in the House is to instead use portions of the Cash Flow and Budget Reserve accounts to fill the budget hole. These accounts were created for that very purpose, and would allow the HCAF to remain intact, and dedicated to health care.
Admittedly, the reform package is only a first step and more difficult work lies ahead. After meeting for nine months, the Task Force is ready to lay the foundation for this reform. It's clear they will need to continue their efforts to put together a final package to receive bipartisan legislative support, as well as the support of the Governor.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the bonding bill. I can be reached by phone at 1-888-682-3180 or 1-651-296-4193, by mail at 487 State Office Building, 100 Martin Luther King Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155 or via e-mail at rep.jeanne.poppe@house.mn. If you would like to stay more closely in touch with what is happening at the legislature, visit my website at http://www.house.mn/27B or the House of Representatives website at www.house.mn.
News Items
- POPPE SELECTED AS AGRICULTURE POLICY COMMITTEE CHAIR - (Posted: 2012-11-16 00:00:00)
- Rep. Jeanne Poppe Encourages High School Juniors to Apply for Minnesota House of Representatives Page Program - Application Deadline is November 19th - (Posted: 2012-11-12 00:00:00)
- HORMEL INSTITUTE EXPANSION SIGNED INTO LAW - 2012 legislative session adjourns sine die - (Posted: 2012-05-11 00:00:00)
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