GOP Changes to MNsure structure wouldn’t benefit Minnesotans
HF5 moves Minnesota health care backward
ST. PAUL – Tuesday, the Minnesota House Health and Human Services Reform Committee voted to approve significant changes to MNsure, Minnesota’s health insurance exchange. The committee voted to move HF5 on in the committee process. It has been a priority of the GOP freshman class. Rep. Jennifer Schultz (DFL – Duluth), who serves on the HHS Reform Committee, voted against the legislation.
“While MNsure got off to a rocky start, in the second year it has brought the rate of uninsured Minnesotans down to historic levels,” said Rep. Schultz. “I understand the desire to improve the effectiveness and accountability of MNsure, but those are not the priorities of this bill. I’m especially concerned that the GOP would give away the gains we’ve made, insuring more Minnesota workers and families, in order to give profits to insurance special interests and corporate executives.”
HF5 makes several changes to MNsure’s structure. It would allow individuals to use tax credits when purchasing insurance directly from health plans, rather than using the MNsure exchange. The bill would eliminate the active purchaser role of MNsure, and change the composition of the MNsure board. It would also require extensive background checks of navigators, including fingerprints submissions to the FBI.
“Allowing individuals to go off the exchange will segment the market and will lead to instability and higher premiums on the exchange,” said Rep. Schultz. “The purpose of MNsure was to create one marketplace to shop for similar products so consumers could make comparisons, based on premiums.”
Rep. Schultz also expressed data privacy concerns, as health plans would need to verify income to determine eligibility for subsidies. She was not confident that health plans would be able to work with the IRS and provide data security given the recent data breeches at large insurers and the recent report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor describing problems with subcontracts used by health plans.
Getting rid of the active purchaser role could hurt residents in rural Minnesota.
“The MNsure board currently has the authority to consider meaningful choices and access when selecting plans for the exchange but eliminating this role could mean that some rural areas may not have a sufficient number of plans offering coverage,” stated Rep. Schultz.
There was uncertainty about any new insurance producer member on the MNsure board being required to recuse him/herself from discussion or voting on conflicts of interest, as stated in HF5.
“It may be more helpful to get input from a retired insurance producer with no conflicts of interest,” stated Rep. Schultz.
“I support many of the provisions in HF5, such as restoring the open meeting laws, providing oversight by the Department of Administration and working with the state office of information technology (MN.IT),” said Rep. Schultz. “But I’m concerned this bill will destroy MNsure by making it difficult to recruit navigators and by segmenting the insurance market.”
Rep. Schultz reasserted her support for a bipartisan and sincere effort to address the weaknesses of MNsure, and to apply for federal waivers to improve it. Of the $155 million in federal grant money awarded to MNsure, it has spent only $60 million, leaving a healthy cushion for use in 2015 to start this process.
Rep. Schultz encourages community members to contact her on any legislative issue. She can be reached by email at rep.jennifer.schultz@house.mn or phone at 651-296-2228.
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