The folks at the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce aren't exactly crying in their beers over Gov. Tim Pawlenty's refusal to apply for a grant to study lower cost health insurance options.
On Monday, the business organization sent the Republican governor a letter that "strongly encourages" the state to
apply for a $1 million grant to study health insurance exchanges that could allow people to buy cheaper medical coverage. Pawlenty issued an executive order the next day that prohibited state agencies from optional involvement in President Obama's federal health care overhaul without approval by his office. He also skipped applying for the money to study the health insurance pools. On Thursday, Democrats circulated the letter from the Republican-friendly group to bolster their claim that Pawlenty, who is eyeing a run for president, put his political ambition ahead of what's best for Minnesotans.
So that's it, Minnesotans will never know if these exchanges would be a bargain, right? Wrong. "We can figure that out based on what other states learn in their research," chamber president David Olson said Thursday via e-mail. "It seems like folks are making a bigger deal out of this than it really is."
