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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
Working towards adequate health care for all
One of the main sticking points that has contributed to this Special Session is health care. While there is pressure to finish quickly, we need to be clear about what is at stake.
Under the administration's budget proposal, an estimated 30,000 working individuals will lose their MinnesotaCare health care coverage, 18,000 in Greater Minnesota alone. In fact, the cuts are so deep that a part-time worker earning the minimum wage of $5.15 per hour would make too much to qualify for that coverage. This isn't a free handout; these are working people whose employer does not provide health benefits, leaving MinnesotaCare as their only option.
A report by Families USA indicates that families who have insurance through their private employers will pay, on the average, an additional $900 this year in insurance premiums to cover the cost of health care for the uninsured; individuals will pay an extra $341.
By 2010, these premiums will be $1,500 higher for families and $532 for individuals, all to cover the costs to doctors and hospitals for caring for individuals who do not have health insurance.
The Governor's proposal will cut adults without children from MinnesotaCare. In Mower County there are close to 300 adults who fall into this category. Fillmore County has another 140. Unless they make less than $580 a month or have health care expenses that bring their income down to that level, they will be cut.
Right now we have a program in place that allows people who don't have the option of health insurance through their employer to purchase coverage on their own. If we cut that, as proposed by the Governor, not only will we be hurting thousands of Minnesotans, the cost to those of us with health care coverage will continue to rise. Clearly, this is not an acceptable answer to our budget deficit.
The cuts don't end there. The Governor's plan will cut $56 million in payments to hospitals, with $40 million more lost in matching Federal funds.
If the current budget is passed, the impact on the Austin Medical Center will be almost $670,000. This is in addition to a reduction of over $961,000 with the previous budget.
Nursing Homes will also face another round of cuts under this budget proposal. Two years ago, the Governor froze payment rates to nursing homes and trimmed an additional $32 million. The current proposal will eliminate an annual inflation adjustment that about 75% of homes are entitled to receive. These cuts have the very real potential of forcing some nursing homes statewide out of business, adding to the nine that closed last year alone due to financial difficulties.
In Austin, St. Mark's Lutheran Home lost roughly $162,000 as a result of the legislation passed in 2003. Losses at Sacred Heart Care Center, Inc. amounted to $66,000, Comforcare Good Samaritan Center lost $62,000 and Grand Meadow lost roughly $66,000. These cuts are not easy to recover from; another round of cuts will be very damaging.
The health care workers in our hospitals and nursing homes have borne the brunt of much of the budget cuts - many of them have not received a pay increase of any kind for over three years. These people provide loving care to our most vulnerable fellow citizens day after day and they deserve to be treated fairly.
This budget proposal is not an answer to the growing health care crisis our state is facing. Instead of cutting people, we need to look for ways to increase the number of Minnesotans with health care coverage. We also need to support our hospitals and nursing homes, especially at this time of dwindling insurance reimbursements.
Adequate, affordable health care for all Minnesotans needs to be protected-this is one of the things we are working for as we look for a compromise to end this special session.
Please continue to call or write if you have ideas or concerns you want to share about state or local issues. I can be reached by phone at 1-888-682-3180 or 1-651-296-4193, by mail at 231 State Office Building, 100 Martin Luther King Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155 or via e-mail at the above address. If you are interested in receiving my e-newsletter, please email me at rep.jeanne.poppe@house.mn and your name will be added to our list.
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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