health032608.box
On the homepage
Thanksgiving
Out There
Video
Reusse's Turkey
Home | Politically Connected | State Politics
Senate health bill
Print this story
E-mail this story
Save to del.icio.us
Share on Facebook
Share on DiggMore from State Politics
A bill to change how health care is delivered and paid for in Minnesota likely will come up for a vote Thursday in the Senate, and a House version may reach a vote Friday. Senate provisions include:
Statewide health campaign
Communities could get $18.6 million in state grants to reduce smoking, childhood obesity and make other health improvements, financed by assessments to health insurers and providers.
'Health care homes'
Clinics would be encouraged to become "health care homes," overseeing and coordinating all of a patient's care. Clinics would be paid extra to coordinate care. Providers would make public their fees for medical services and measures of how patients fared, allowing consumers to compare them.
MinnesotaCare
If the state meets its 2010 health cost-containment goals, the state would relax eligibility for MinnesotaCare, the health program for low-income people, allowing an estimated 47,000 to join. That would help reduce the percentage of uninsured from about 7 percent now toward the goal of less than 3 percent.
Health insurance
Starting Jan. 1, 2010, insurers would have to offer at least three plans that meet a standard set of benefits to be established next year by a new commission, allowing consumers to more easily compare plans. Monthly premiums and cost sharing could vary. Individuals and small employers could buy insurance through a nonprofit "health insurance exchange." By next Jan. 1, every employer with at least 11 full-time workers would have to offer a "Section 125 plan" under which monthly premiums are paid with pre-tax dollars.
Subsidies to buy insurance
The state would subsidize insurance premiums for lower-income people so that those earning up to 400 percent of the poverty level -- about $83,000 for a family of four -- would pay no more than 10 percent of their income for total out-of-pocket health costs. The percentage would be lower for those with lower incomes.
HOUSE BILL
Still working its way through committees, the House bill differs from the Senate version. A major difference is that all Minnesotans not covered by government health programs would be required to buy insurance by 2013 if the state's rate of uninsured residents has not fallen to 4 percent.
TO READ THE BILLS
Go to www.startribune.com/a4183 and under "Get Bill" type in SF3099 for the Senate bill and HF3391 for the House bill.
Recent State Politics stories
Robert Pohlad will host Joe Biden next week - March 25, 2008
Robert Pohlad will host Joe Biden next week - Vice President Joe Biden will travel to the Twin Cities next week for a fundraising dinner at the home of Robert Pohlad, son of the late Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad. More
- Cash-back offers trick consumers
- Legislators take a field trip to the Metrodome
- Backed by House, 6 patients sue Pawlenty, state officials
- Effort builds to repeal nuclear power ban
- Quam exits firm to help husband run for governor
- Pawlenty's lawyer defends cuts to nutrition program
- Library is pressed to take gang force report off Web
- Not all forgiven
Current state office holders
Governor: Tim Pawlenty
One of only a few prominent Republicans to win a competitive re-election contest in the Democratic sweep of 2006, Tim Pawlenty is widely seen as politically shrewd and naturally likable.
- Lt. Governor: Carol Molnau
- Secretary of State: Mark Ritchie
- Attorney General: Lori Swanson
- State Auditor: Rebecca Otto
Minnesota's political giants: Learn more about the men and women who have shaped Minnesota's political history.
  Free Jobs E-mail NewsletterResources to help further your career. Sign up now. Find Your Next HomeSearch realtor represented & for sale by owner homes in the Twin Cities. Plus, find open house listings. |
Win tickets to Vita.mn's second annual Snowball: An Old School Funk and Rollerdisco at St. Louis Park's Roller Gardens.Vita.mn and Ragstock present the second annual Snowball: An Old School Funk and Rollerdisco at St. Louis Park's Roller Gardens on Dec. 11. |
Comment on this story | Read all 1 comments | Hide reader comments