Greetings from the Floor,
Two bills passed off the House floor this week. HF5 would create a reinsurance program for health care insurance on the individual market. The basic premise of reinsurance is that the state would reimburse health insurance companies for actual costs of care. In this case, the state would cover some of the costs of health care to mitigate insurance risk from high claim consumers. The intent is that this would lower the costs of items like health insurance premiums, co-pays and co-insurance; ultimately, out-of-pocket health care costs. The costs of the bill would be $384 million in the next biennium and $316 million in fiscal years 2020 and 2021.
I have discussed reinsurance as an approach to address the rising costs of health care. I think it’s important for us to look at many different ways to lower health care costs and expand access to providers. This conversation also needs to include plans like a public option. However, after hearing more about HF 5, I did not vote for the bill. My main concern about HF 5 is that there are no real assurances that this will lower the costs of health insurance. During the House floor debate, Majority party members spent more time attacking a public option plan than defending and speaking to the merits of HF 5. Throughout the committee hearings, and during the House floor debate, the bill’s author expressed uncertainty about the effectiveness of the proposed reinsurance program in keeping insurance costs down. We need more assurance that a plan to give $700 million to health insurance companies to reduce insurance costs will indeed make health care more affordable.
HF 1478 was passed off the House floor yesterday. This bill would change how teacher layoffs are handled by school districts. The bill would repeal current law that says a negotiated plan by a school district and its teachers cannot include terms related to seniority or the reinstatement of a teacher with a provisional license during times of teacher layoffs. This is similar to a bill that passed the House in 2015. I did not vote for the bill in 2015 or this year. I don’t see any real need for this bill. Minnesota has a current budget surplus of $1.6 billion dollars. There is no need to discuss the process for teacher layoffs, which typically happen when districts need to make tough decisions about budget deficits. Also, when I’ve been hearing about teachers leaving their jobs it’s been in the context of retirements. We have teacher shortages around the state, and this problem will only grow as more teachers approach their retirement years. Conversations have been happening at the Capitol this year around scholarships and student loan relief to get new teachers into the profession. This is a conversation on which we need to build; we don’t need to be making plans for teacher layoffs. We need to build up the profession of teaching and provide more support for people to become teachers.
I had a hearing this week in the Property Tax and Local Government Division on HF 172, which would allow Clay County to collect a ½ cent sales tax for construction of a new jail and law enforcement facility. Voters approved the sales tax during the last general election by a 2 to 1 majority (the sales tax was also supported by the Moorhead Business Association). Our current jail is the oldest in the state. The Department of Corrections has been taking beds in the jail out of commission over the last several years because of compliance issues, and as a result Clay County now pays between $500,000 and $1,000,000 annually to send inmates to other counties to be housed. Clay County needs this facility, and the other option to pay for it is higher property taxes. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the division report later this month.
I put together a survey of issues the Legislature has been discussing this session. I’d like to hear what people think about budget priorities, education, health care, transportation and some social issues. Please fill out the survey by going to:https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BenLien17.
Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve,
Ben