Dear Neighbor,
Gov. Mark Dayton said he wants to make 2014 an “Unsession.” That is fitting since we already have an “Unready” new state insurance program and an “Unpopular” push to unionize childcare providers.
And we haven’t even mentioned "Undoing” the burdensome new tax increases Minnesotans are facing because of Dayton and fellow Democrats.
Flaws within the new state-run insurance program – MNsure – continue to emerge leading up to the Oct. 1 start date. Concerns over data privacy were especially heightened after a recent data breach, when the private information of around 2,400 Minnesotans was made public through a staffer’s errant email. Social Security numbers were included in that email. Now, internal MNsure documents have surfaced which warn of “an abnormally high risk of a data breach” during the exchange’s first six months.
How bad is it? MNsure officials are advising Minnesotans not to rush to join when the program starts.
Around $150 million of our tax dollars have been spent on creating MNsure bureaucracy, without any of that money going toward the things that matter, like pediatric check-ups, preventative screenings for women or prescriptions for the elderly. Some $9 million has even been spent on an ad campaign geared toward making Paul Bunyan look like a "doofus" by smashing his crotch on a tree and suffering other great calamities.
But don’t rush to join MNsure, they say, and I agree. There is no guarantee this program can provide the three things Minnesotans care about most in health care: accessibility, affordability and privacy.
Democrats who created this program say Minnesota’s rates will be the “lowest health insurance rates in the country.” The problem with that claim is they are comparing prices with other states’ Obamacare rates instead of private-market rates. And MNsure prices are projected to rise by an average of 29 percent in 2016.
As for the push to unionize childcare providers, we have received notice a judge has halted a vote on childcare provider unionization. The judge is awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a similar push in Illinois.
Childcare unionization remains highly unpopular among parents and providers themselves. I support allowing parents and providers to make decisions regarding childcare. Union interference would only drive up costs, limit childcare options and add red tape.
It is good the judge upheld this injunction petition, but we are not in the clear just yet. I encourage citizens to contact the governor and let him know where you stand on this issue.
Instead of the “Unsession,” 2014 should be billed as the “Redo” session so we can fix the mistakes of Dayton and fellow Democrats. We could start with a “Repeal” of the crushing tax increases they passed this year. I will have more about those in an upcoming letter.
Sincerely,
Mark