Dayton Demands Insurers Show Tax Spending

Gov. Mark Dayton is demanding big changes from the operators of public health care plans who receive taxpayer money from the state.

The FOX 9 Investigators first questioned how non-profits like Medica, Health Partners and Blue Cross Blue Shield were spending $3 billion of Minnesota tax money annually.

Trish Van Pilsum found that about 500,000 Minnesotans are covered by public health insurance programs, meaning your tax dollars are used to ensure they get medical care.

Critics say health care companies provide very little detail about where the money goes. Now, they have $1.3 billion in reserves -- an amount that got lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to demand more accountability.

“These are state tax dollars. We are the stewards of state tax dollars and there’s something going on,” said Republican Rep. Greg Davids. “We’re talking billions of dollars here that are going from the state into these plans.”

Under Dayton’s executive order, health care providers will have to tell the state exactly how much they are spending on actual medical care and how much goes to administrative costs. For the first time, the plans will also have to compete for the state’s business. In the past, everyone got a piece of the pie.

On April 1, the health plans have to make their annual reports public. Not only does Dayton want to know how much they made in profits, but he is also going to ask them to return some of the extra money to the taxpayers of Minnesota.

In a written statement, the health plans providers said they have contributed the affordability of health care in Minnesota for years, and they hope the executive order isn’t the final word.