Rep. Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, talks with citizens about healthcare during a town hall meeting Wednesday at Wood Lake Meeting Center in Rochester. Dean chairs the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee and attended three MNsure sessions in Rochester that day.
ST. PAUL – Wednesday was something of a healthcare meetings fair in Rochester, as a series of discussions took place and area residents expressed numerous MNsure concerns to federal, state and local officials.
State Rep. Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, chairs the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee and attended all three gatherings which took place, capped by a town hall meeting at Wood Lake Meeting Center Wednesday evening. Dean said MNsure premium increases and functional issues with the program have Minnesotans on edge and were central to each discussion.
“"Middle class Minnesota is in a vice,” Dean said. “People who have spent their whole lives here, who have paid every bill and played by the rules, pay more and more for healthcare to get less and less. Meanwhile others from other states or countries who merely state their intention to move here get more and more and pay little or nothing. They can see your doctor for nothing, but you can't see her at $2,000/month premium because she is out of network. That's not fair. That's not right. "
Dean cited testimony submitted by a Rochester woman as an example of the struggles Minnesota families are facing. She indicated:
“I am an independent contractor doing graphic design. I needed to change doctors and insurance for the year of 2016 to try to find a more manageable monthly premium. I had to leave a doctor with whom I had a trusted relationship and good care, and start over finding a new provider. The best insurance rate I could find was $605 per month with an annual deductible of $6500. This was a huge adjustment for me and my husband (who is on disability) because I lost my main graphic design contract in January, bringing down our income by $30,000 in 2016. We have struggled through this year with this rate of medical insurance. It was complicated when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in September. I had surgery at Mayo, then chose alternative followup cancer treatment (which is not covered at all by the insurance) so medical costs have been extremely burdensome.
“We were shocked and dismayed to learn that my premiums, which were hard to sustain this past year, are going to rise to $1,050 per month with a similarly high deductible. At this point, it seems like it will be unsustainable for us. We will likely have to liquidate retirement funds to make it through the year just to pay the medical insurance premiums!”
Earlier Wednesday, Dean attended a meeting with Congressman Tim Walz and constituents. That was followed by Dean discussing issues with Olmsted County Commissioner Sheila Kiscaden and county case workers. Along with Dean, Sens. Dave Senjem and Carla Nelson, and Rep. Nels Pierson, all of Rochester, were at the evening Wood Lake session.
MNsure is likely to be a headline issue during the 2017 legislative session, which is set to start Jan. 3 in St. Paul. Dean said the focus will remain identifying middle class premium relief and access for health insurance.
“We need to stabilize the private health insurance market and reconnect doctors and patients separated by a crazy healthcare system imposed on us by bureaucrats with political science degrees,” Dean said. “You shouldn't have to go bankrupt to get care. You shouldn't have to drive by your hospital and clinic to get care in another town 60 miles away. That's not the Minnesota way.”
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