The Dayton administration continues its push today in Saint Cloud to allow any Minnesotan — not just low-income people — to enroll in MinnesotaCare, the state-run health insurance plan. Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith says it “gives people a choice, another choice,… with a very good, strong, robust network and premiums that look like they’re gonna be lower than what you might be able to find elsewhere.” House Republican health care point man, Representative Matt Dean responds hospitals get reimbursed less for MinnesotaCare patients and “what you’re telling small town Minnesota hospitals is, your doors are going to close.” “If we put everyone on a plan that under-reimburses hospitals to the point where they can’t keep their doors open, what are they gonna do?” he asks.
Lieutenant Governor Smith responds one doctor in Duluth told her that his biggest problem hasn’t been lower re-imbursement rates — but rather people who never pay their bills. “How do you solve that problem? You make sure people have health insurance,” Smith says.
Expect a big fight over the issue in the 2018 legislative session.
More in this excerpt from Dean’s news conference:
Smith talks about the visit to St. Cloud: