By Rachel E. Stassen-Berger

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty today unveiled a proposal to allow Minnesotans to buy health care across state lines, which no state currently allows and hasn't gotten much legislative traction before, and change out-of-pocket payment system for Minnesotans covered by subsidized insurance.

It was just pure happenstance, he said, that held his news conference to promote his proposal, months before the legislative session, on a day when health care reform in Washington receives an important vote in the U.S. Senate, he said.

"It is actually a coincidence," Pawlenty said at a news conference. "We had planned this some time ago. We didn't know the vote in the Senate committee would take place today. Actually, from my standpoint it's less than ideal because the whole focus is on that as opposed to this."