ST. PAUL – A health and human services budget proposal approved by the Minnesota House majority that substantially increases spending but does little to address rising health care costs was approved in St. Paul this week. State Representative Bjorn Olson (R-Elmore) opposed the measure.
“As I review the plan, I’m finding policies that will raise the cost of health care in Minnesota and ultimately give more health care control to state government,” Olson said.
Olson said the proposal expands government run health care by putting the Department of Human Services (DHS) in charge of drug, dental, and nonemergency medical transport coverage for all public program enrollees. It also allows DHS to study how it could provide drug coverage to enrollees in the private market and offer their own insurance product competing in the private market, and exempts public programs from a slew of mandates that would be imposed on private insurers.
The bill would also extend Obamacare in state law if overturned federally, increase mandates and limitations for hospitals, and would dramatically change state welfare programs.
“At a time when Minnesotans continue to struggle from the pandemic, we should be prioritizing ways that will lower the cost of health care,” Olson said. “This bill goes in the opposite direction.”