The first month of session has ended, and it can be easily described in terms of the good, the bad and the ugly.
The good: After months of public sparring from state leaders, Minnesotans received some good news – an agreement on a premium relief plan for the 125,000 Minnesotans who purchased their insurance on the individual market and have experienced skyrocketing health care premiums. While the agreement wasn’t perfect, I am glad that Minnesotans are seeing some relief.
The bad: Premium relief was tied to major changes in Minnesota’s health insurance system that will allow for-profit HMOs to operate in Minnesota. HMOs, by law, have been defined as nonprofit organizations in Minnesota for almost 50 years. This long history of nonprofit HMOs has contributed to Minnesota’s consistent No. 1 rank in health care. The impact of allowing for-profit HMOs to operate in Minnesota is unknown, but could cause major changes in how health care is delivered. The individual market needs more certainty, not less. I support real health care reform, such as reducing costs and eliminating surprise billing.
The ugly: House Republicans introduced and passed a provision that allowed insurance companies to pick and choose which kind of health events and risks that insurance companies will or won’t cover. Some types of coverage that people could lose include maternity care, cancer treatments or autism coverage. Thankfully, this provision was eliminated, and it wasn’t signed into law. But it is concerning that some lawmakers believe these provisions, with potentially life-threatening results, to be the right direction for Minnesota.
Please let me know if you have any comments or ideas you would like to share with me. I am here to represent you and our Bloomington neighbors. If you would like to get more frequent updates from the Capitol, sign up for my e-newsletter at house.mn/50b. You may also call my office at 651-296-7167, and we can sign you up over the phone.