Dear Neighbors,
We are in the last month of session and there are a lot of things I wish were accomplished by now. We have bills ready to reduce gun violence, save HCMC, increase housing affordability, and so much more. Unfortunately, it is difficult coming to agreements on these critical issues when you have folks who literally don’t want to govern. As one GOP colleague said, “A lot of people in my district, they look at me and they say, ‘Bjorn, you guys didn’t do anything last year.’ I said, ‘that’s exactly what we want.’”
They are gambling with Minnesotan’s lives and well-being, betting that a Legislature that does not function will help them in an election year. I will continue to push for legislation that our community desperately needs. There is too much on the line to gamble it all away.
HCMC Rescue
As a member of both the Health and Tax committees, I am in the middle of the discussions to prevent the disastrous closure of Hennepin County Medical Center. Members of both parties broadly agree that, as the entire State’s “safety net hospital, cannot be allowed to go under.” The current financial crisis has been caused by a perfect storm of catastrophic events. UCare was HCMC’s largest insurance payer and when it went under it owed $100 million to HCMC that has still not yet been paid.
HCMC has, by far, the State’s highest share of medicaid patients and its $88 million in unpaid “Charity Care” (2024) dwarfs that of any other hospital in the state. Hospitals across the state are clearly “dumping” their poorest and sickest patients on HCMC and it is appropriate that the entire state pitch in to rescue their operations, some of which (such as its hyperbaric chamber) are unique in the state. It’s not fair that Hennepin County taxpayers should foot the entire bill in the form of a large increase in our sales tax rate (to a total of 10% in Bloomington). I’m actively working to develop an alternative statewide funding mechanism that would also support other safety net hospitals around the state that provide high levels of unpaid charity care.
Fraud Update
Recent claims data from the “high risk” Medicaid programs show that our efforts to counter fraud are bearing fruit. Claims volumes in these programs have been falling sharply since last summer as shady providers are dropped from these programs. The word is out that Minnesota is more vigilant than ever and many of these providers have simply dropped out of the programs on their own and are no longer submitting claims. (I do worry that we’re also losing legitimate providers of valuable services as collateral damage in the process.)
In the meantime, IT work is already underway on several of the initiatives that I’ve described in previous bulletins. The Dept of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) “owns” the ancient MAXIS system that is used to enroll new members in these high-risk programs and they are already prototyping a technical solution that will enable them to pull eligibility data into MAXIS to eliminate duplicate key-punching and allow electronic eligibility checks. MN IT Services is already planning to deploy its LoginMN identity verification services into most of Medicaid this summer. The Department of Human services is already working on upgrading its analytical capabilities to improve fraud detection. Use of Electronic Visit Verification is being expanded.
The only bad news on this front is that federal prosecutions of “Feeding our Future” and Medicaid program fraud has ground to a halt since half of the US Attorney’s staff in Minnesota resigned over the politicization of their work by the Trump Administration.
School Safety
One area of potential agreement is around improving school safety. There are several proposals being discussed at the moment, including increased mental health funding, improved reporting systems, and hardening school infrastructure. We have to make sure to take the right approach, for instance hardening our schools may sound like a great solution at first, but it begs the questions; what are we hardening our schools against? And do we want our kids to learn in a friendly and welcoming environment or in prison style schools?
We owe it to the Annunciation families to get something done this session to make our kids safer. I will continue to push for and support quality legislation that does just that.
Boundary Waters
We refuse to let international mining companies and the most corrupt administration in history sell out our most critical natural environment. Shame on MN Legislators who voted for this for betraying their state, we will not forget. We also will not back down, Minnesota is for Minnesotans, not corporate mining exploitation. We will save the Boundary Waters!
Get involved here.
Ban on AI ‘Nudify’ Apps Passes
We passed nation-leading legislation to ban this exploitative and harmful technology in Minnesota. The bill will ensure Minnesotans don’t have to fear having their public photos turned into explicit imagery without their consent, and it will empower victims of this technology to sue those who unlawfully use or promote it.
Governments around the world have failed to react quickly enough to the dangers of AI. But here in Minnesota, thanks to the brave advocacy of victims of this exploitative AI technology, we’re stepping up and taking action.
Keep in Touch
Don’t hesitate to reach out if I can provide any assistance. Please follow me on my Facebook page for further updates and invite your friends and family to do so as well.
Thanks for the honor of representing you at the Capitol.
Sincerely,
Steve Elkins
Representative, District 50B
Minnesota House of Representatives
rep.steve.elkins@house.mn.gov