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With fervor, House passes $9.9 billion health bill
Abortion funding was among the topics during a long and lively debate over a bill that also includes significant new funding for uninsured children.
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Despite protracted debate on such issues as abortion and welfare, the Minnesota House passed a sweeping health and human services bill early today. The $9.9 billion bill would provide $396 million in new funding for such programs as health insurance for uninsured children, cost-of-living increases in state payments for nursing homes, and measures meant to streamline red tape in medical billing and contain costs.
The bill also would establish a task force to study how to provide universal health care for all Minnesotans by 2010.
The House approved the measure on an 86-45 vote.
"This bill is concerned with the uninsured 7 percent of Minnesotans," said House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis. "But it's equally concerned about the value the 93 percent who are insured are getting. And it sets the path for comprehensive health care."
Costs draw criticism
Critics, mostly Republicans, contend that funding in the bill in the DFL-controlled House will crumble under its own expense as it progresses past the two-year budget cycle. They cited in particular the costs of increased funding for welfare programs and a "Cover All Kids" proposal, which is designed to provide health coverage for all of the state's estimated 70,000 uninsured children by 2011.
"We are perpetuating unsustainable reimbursement for our doctors and clinics in outlying areas," said Rep. Matt Dean, R-Dellwood. "It will limit access and it will limit quality."
The health and human services bill is the last of the major funding bills to go before the House for a vote, setting the stage for House and Senate conference committees to begin meeting next week.
Amendments in the spotlight
Although votes on a score of amendments were often lopsided and seemed destined for use in future campaign literature, representatives tangled over an amendment that would have prohibited funding from state health programs for abortions. The measure was narrowly defeated, 68-64.
DFLers argued that such a prohibition would have been unconstitutional, because state-funded abortions were allowed by a 1995 Minnesota Supreme Court decision.
"This is our opportunity to send that back to the Supreme Court and say, 'You know, you made the wrong choice,' " said Rep. Dan Severson, R-Sauk Rapids. Rep. Laura Brod, R-New Prague, said $1 million a year in state funds goes to fund abortions.
"The question is: How do we prioritize money we spend in the state? Should it be spent on abortions? I would say no."
Another amendment that didn't pass would have redirected welfare money to the state's nursing homes. House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, also proposed an amendment prohibiting welfare recipients from using monthly assistance cards to buy cigarettes and alcohol. That amendment eventually passed 103 to 26. Seifert also was successful with an amendment prohibiting people with felony convictions from out of state from obtaining Minnesota welfare benefits.
Although the bill's authors say it won't be until 2011 that all of Minnesota's estimated 70,000 uninsured children can get health coverage under the "Cover All Kids" provision, they think 50,000 kids will be able to do so over the next two years under the bill, said Rep. Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis.
The Senate has already approved a health and human services bill that aims to provide health insurance for 51,000 uninsured Minnesota adults and children by 2011, and sets aside $34 million for community and crisis services intended to reduce hospital stays for mental health patients.
The House and Senate bills must be reconciled in conference committees. Some of the provisions are close to those proposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, such as emphasis on pay-for-performance for health care reform. But the House's $9.9 billion proposal for the next two budget years is about 3.3 percent above Pawlenty's recommendations.
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