Health Care Legislation - Catholic Charities

Health care is a burning issue for almost everyone. The 441,000 Minnesotans without insurance fail to get adequate access and often turn to the emergency room for care, exacerbating the cost. Those with health insurance see the price of health care skyrocketing through premium increases and other out-of-pocket costs.

Outcome

$50 million was taken from the Health Care Access Fund to cover some of the budget gap. This is a far cry from the original $250 million that Governor Pawlenty wanted to use. The bill does contain some payment reform proposals and public health components.

The reform proposals add 7,000 Minnesotans to public health programs and another 5,000 to private insurance programs. It also works to contain the rising costs of health insurance.

Specifically, the dollars will be used to reduce premiums for families on MinnesotaCare, increase eligibility for single adults to 250% of the federal poverty guidelines and increase the dollars spent on MnCare outreach. Children moving from Medicaid to MinnesotaCare will automatically be eligible for MinnesotaCare and not be subject to a two month transition time with no health care coverage.

Overall, the bill was viewed as a compromise between the Governor’s desire to use Health Care Access Fund (HCAF) dollars to balance the budget and the legislature’s plan to expand MinnesotaCare enrollment by 40,000.

Catholic Charities of St. Paul & Minneapolis · 1200 Second Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55403 · 612-664-8500