Insurance premium relief package sweeps through committees

The multiple components of the House Republican proposal to address rising health care insurance premiums moved quickly through the committee process on Tuesday, with a vote on the package expected Wednesday night by the House Ways and Means Committee.

Myron Frans, commissioner of Minnesota Management and Budget, spent most of his day in a whirlwind of committee hearings, testifying against the Republican proposal and pushing the administration’s insurance fix. DFL legislators also unsuccessfully attempted to replace the Republican plan with that offered by Gov. Mark Dayton. In the end, however, the two disparate visions and three different bills approved along party lines rapidly sweeping through the legislative process.

“This bill, as I have mentioned once or twice, is a work in progress,” Rep. Joe Hoppe (R-Chaska) said in defense of both HF1 and HF107. He sponsors both.

The House State Government Finance Committee approved HF107 as amended (here and here), which would direct MMB to administer insurance relief to qualifying Minnesotans and require the agency to make applications for relief available on its website, process the applications and issue $300 million in relief checks.

LISTEN Full audio of Tuesday's meeting of House Commerce and Regulatory Reform Committee 

The bill would also provide a one-time $15 million expenditure for MMB to pay insurance companies for transition care. All expenses would come from the General Fund, after being shifted from the reserve fund.

Frans said repeatedly the Republican plan was too complicated, too expensive and wouldn’t provide relief until next year. In speaking to the House State Government Finance Committee, Frans reiterated how important it was for the insurance providers to handle the money, not his agency.

“The difference between the governor’s proposal and House File 1 is the fact that we aren’t sending checks out to individuals,” Frans said. “Under House File 1, we’re going to send thousands of checks to thousands of individuals a month and that’s where the fraud opportunities arise.”

Earlier in the day, the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee approved another segment of the Republican insurance-fix plan, HF99. Approved on a 13-9 party-line vote, it would allow private health maintenance organizations to compete in the state insurance marketplace currently dominated by nonprofit providers. Rep. Joe Schomacker (R-Luverne) sponsors the bill.

The companion to HF1 is SF1. Sponsored by Sen. Michelle Benson (R-Ham Lake), it awaits action by the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Finance and Policy Committee. HF99 and HF107 do not have Senate companions.