Bill includes premium relief, preservation of care, reforms to increase competition and choice
ST. PAUL – The Minnesota House overwhelmingly approved a package of health insurance relief and reform on Thursday and the governor signed it into law.
The package (S.F. 1) provides a 25-percent premium reduction to Minnesotans who do not qualify for MNsure tax credits on the individual market. It also includes key reforms to preserve care for those receiving life-saving treatments and increase competition and consumer choice moving forward.
State Rep. Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, serves as chairman of the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee. He also was a member of the joint House-Senate conference committee which prepared the package for final passage. Dean said he advocated for expanded access to providers throughout the process.
“This is a step in the right direction,” Dean said. “This relief is overdue and solves a small amount of the problems that never should have happened but are due to a horrible deal cut weeks before the election between Gov. Dayton and the insurance plans. A structural overhaul is still needed, but this bill helps.”
Reforms in the final bill include:
- Allowing for-profit HMOs to operate in Minnesota (like most states) which will increase options for consumers.
- Modifying stop loss coverage to make it easier for more small businesses to offer affordable insurance to their employees.
- Providing greater transparency for proposed insurance premium changes by requiring earlier disclosure of proposed rates.
- Allowing Agricultural Cooperatives to offer group health insurance to their members so farmers and their families can get better access to care and more affordable coverage.
- Ensuring Minnesota employees can benefit from the recently passed federal 21st Century Cures Act which allows employers to make pre-tax contributions toward employee health insurance costs.
- Network adequacy reform that will assist in ensuring more options for residents in rural Minnesota.
- Prohibiting surprise billing to protect consumers from previously undisclosed costs.
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