Minnesota Legislature
Efforts to promote healthy workforce hampered by high deductibility
Small businesses that choose to self-insure and encourage their employees to adopt a healthy lifestyle are sometimes penalized by insurance companies with higher deductibles and a clause that can cap the loss.
Rep. Bob Loonan (R-Shakopee) sponsors HF294 that would move the catastrophic event insurance deductibility to $6,500 rather than the current $20,000.
Passed 91-38 by the House Thursday, it now moves to the Senate where Sen. Vicki Jensen (DFL-Owatonna) is the sponsor.
“This encourages healthy choices. … The future of health care is going to be health,” Loonan said.
However, Rep. Diane Loeffler (DFL-Mpls) said the bill has nothing to do with wellness. “What it has to do with is how much risk our small businesses will take to protect their employees.” She said the bill lowers the standard in the self-insured market by moving healthy people out of the pool, and it goes against the model established by the Commerce Department, which opposes the bill.
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