Hello from the State Capitol,
Earlier this year it was discovered that a number of Pine County residents unknowingly had liens placed on their property after signing up for health insurance through MNsure. In order to assist them, I'm authoring legislation that would have these liens removed.
These people were signed up for programs they didn't want in the first place, and were never told that if they accepted the coverage they would have liens placed on their estate in order to pay for it. It's yet another problem caused by MNsure that we're trying to fix.
Despite guarantees from lawmakers who were supportive of Obamacare and MNsure, thousands of Minnesotans lost their preferred health care coverage once the program was implemented.
In the case of the impacted Pine County residents, they sought affordable insurance in order to comply with the Affordable Care Act law that required them to be insured. MNsure gave them only one option – Medical Assistance – and the residents signed up. Later they discovered that their insurance would be paid for through liens on their estate after they had died.
My bill would require the reimbursement to the estate of any Medical Assistance recipient aged 55 to 64 who received services, other than institutionalization, retroactive to January 1, 2014.
People are being blindsided with this news long after they were forced to acquire unwanted coverage. We need to help these people out and force MNsure to be more forthcoming with its estate lien information.
I'm also sponsoring legislation that requires estate lien notice and consent to be given to residents before they sign up for Medical Assistance services.
Have a great Easter holiday!
Jason