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Legislative News and Views - Rep. John Poston (R)

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Capitol Newsletter

Friday, March 17, 2017

Dear Neighbor,

This week, I introduced a bill that would require the lane expansion from 2 lanes to 4 lanes on U.S. Highway 10 through Wadena be completed before October 31st, 2018. This project is long overdue and needs to be completed as soon as possible.

I also testified in the Agriculture Finance Committee to a bill I chief authored, House File 2277. This bill would provide funding to reimburse livestock producers for practices intended to prevent conflicts between wolves and livestock. This legislation is important for producers living in Minnesota’s wolf range.

Health Insurance Reform:

On Monday, the House passed House File 5: The Minnesota Premium Security Plan on a bipartisan vote of 78-53. The goal of working to implement this bill is to stabilize premiums by trying to minimalize the impact of high-risk individuals on the individual health insurance market. The program will be administered by the Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association, which ran a high risk pool that brought stability to the individual market and ensured the sickest Minnesotans had access to needed coverage for over 40 years.

Since the implementation of Obamacare, Minnesota’s individual insurance market has become a third as large and twice as sick. If this bill is signed into law, it could help in reducing health insurance premiums 17-18%, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

This bill is not the finished product, there is more work left to be done in order to make health insurance affordable and workable for Minnesotans. I am hopeful that the federal government gives us favorable parameters to work within, so we can do all that we can to make Minnesota a leader in health care again.

 

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If you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding any issue related to state government, please feel free to contact me at either 651-296-4293, or rep.john.poston@house.mn.

Sincerely,

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