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State Representative Tom Anzelc
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4936
For more information contact: Michael Howard 651-296-8873
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HOUSE HEALTH CARE BUDGET PRIORITIES NURSING HOMES AND JOBS
St. Paul, Minnesota – The Minnesota House of Representatives passed a health care bill Tuesday night that increases funding for nursing homes and saves important health care jobs while reducing $165 million in order to balance the state budget shortfall. The plan also maximizes federal health care dollars and reduces the state budget deficit in the next biennium by over $1 billion.
An amendment added to the bill directs $55 million to nursing homes and mental health services by closing tax havens and loopholes for foreign operating corporations. State Tom Anzelc (DFL – Balsam Township) said the amendment brought needed fairness to the debate about who should pay to balance our state budget.
“For years multi-national corporations have cheated Minnesota taxpayers out of millions during our state’s worst budget crisis and our nursing homes, schools and hospitals have paid the price," said Anzelc. “Ordinary Minnesotans don’t hide their income in tax shelters overseas and multi-national corporations shouldn’t be able to either, especially when we are considering severe cuts to nursing homes and basic health care programs.”
Nursing homes will receive a 2% funding increase next year and a 1.5% in the following budget cycle. Several cash strapped mental health programs will see smaller cuts as a result of the tax haven closures including school based mental health grants, county mental health grants, and cuts to the children’s mental health budget. Anzelc said that Koochiching, Lake of the Woods and Itasca County will be able to preserve valuable programs and jobs as a result.
“Our counties have cut to the bone during this recession. More cutting means serious harm to our most vulnerable citizens and to the workers who provide those services,” said Anzelc. “When you consider we are preventing these cuts by simply closing tax loopholes for corporations who aren’t paying their fair share, it’s a no-brainer.”
The bill leverages over $1 billion in new federal dollars with an early Medical Assistance (MA) option that will cover General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) recipients and a portion of those on MinnesotaCare. This option not only offers significantly improved funding for care providers, it also captures funds for Minnesota that would otherwise go to Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New York or any of the other 10 state eligible for this option.
“Our hospitals in Greater Minnesota support the early MA option 100 percent because we can provide basic care at a better price to our people,” said Anzelc. “We owe it to all Minnesotans that we take full advantage of federal health care reform.”
The bill rejects the Governor’s elimination of General Assistance, a $203 monthly payment that has not been increased in 24 years. The bill also maintains MinnesotaCare coverage for 35,000 adults without children who would have lost their coverage under the Governor’s plan. Anzelc said despite successful efforts to preserve funding for critical programs, painful cuts were still included to programs that support low-income families, child care and disability services all received significant cuts.
“We didn’t do near as much harm as the Governor proposed, but many of these cuts will cause harm,” said Anzelc. “I will continue to fight for solutions to our budget that recognize we cannot cut our way back to prosperity.”
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News Items
- STATE REPRESENTATIVE TOM ANZELC APPOINTED VICE-CHAIR OF HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE - (Posted: Dec 21 2012 12:00AM)
- Rep. Tom Anzelc participates in Governor Dayton’s “Working for Minnesota Jobs” discussion with Essar Steel and Magnetation - (Posted: 2012-10-03 00:00:00)
- REP. ANZELC: DISASTER RELIEF PACKAGE PROVIDES DESPERATELY NEEDED STATE AID - (Posted: 2012-08-24 00:00:00)
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