Pawlenty Pitches Health Care Changes

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Governor Pawlenty unveiled Tuesday a three-part healthcare reform plan designed to build competition for premium dollars and save the state money in its MinnesotaCare and Medical Assistance programs.

First and foremost, the Governor wants to rewrite state law to allow Minnesotans to buy health coverage from out of state insurers. No state in the nation currently allows this.

“I don’t think it’s too much to ask our Minnesota providers, our Minnesota insurers, our Minnesota HMO’s to compare themselves to the rest of the nation and compete,” said Pawlenty.

As evidence of the need for competition, Pawlenty points to Kaiser Family Foundation research that shows Minnesota families and their employers pay nearly 10 percent more for family coverage than the rest of the country. According to Kaiser, the cost for an average family policy is $13,639 compared to $12,298 across the rest of the U.S. The concept is not new. Arizona Senator John McCain made cross-state health insurance part of his 2008 presidential campaign. But a study by the New America Foundation heavily criticized the concept.

The Foundation said, “Selling health insurance across state lines would not work as advertised and would make it harder and more expensive for many Americans to access health coverage.”

Some of Minnesota’s top non-profit HMO’s are equally as suspicious of Pawlenty’s plan.

Julie Brunner of the Minnesota Council of Health said, “I do not understand what the Governor is trying to accomplish because there are already more than 190 companies providing health care in Minnesota.”

Additionally, Phil Stalboerger of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota said, “Minnesotans should have the assurance of knowing there is effective and watchful regulation of their local health care system. Blue Cross has a long-standing position that the most productive and responsible oversight of health plans happens at the local level. We believe Minnesota enjoys some of the highest quality health care in the nation precisely because of strong community connections, public-private partnerships, and the many reform measures that we as a state have decided are important to ensure the best possible care for all."

Pawlenty would need approval of the legislature to make the changes. In addition to opening up healthcare coverage to outside providers, he also want to crate a tiered ranking system in the state funded MinnesotaCare health plan make consumers select coverage based upon quality and cost.

Finally, the governor proposes adding co-pays and deductibles to parents on MinnestoaCare who make between 133 percent and 275 percent of the federal poverty guideline. The state would try to offset the deductibles with a health spending card that customers could use on over-the-counter drugs and other services.

For more information:
http://www.governor.state.mn.us/mediacenter/pressreleases/PROD009692.html
http://www.statehealthfacts.org/profileind.jsp?cat=5&sub=67&rgn=25
http://www.newamerica.net/pressroom/2008/across_state_lines_explained_why_selling_health_insurance_across_state_lines_not_answer