The Dayton administration is renewing its push to allow Minnesotans buying on the individual market to purchase health insurance through MinnesotaCare, meaning more than just low-income people could participate in the state-run program. Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith is hosting a town meeting this morning in Duluth and says, “We think it will be more affordable than options that people have right now, because the MinnesotaCare network is already quite large. It’s about a hundred-thousand people.” Smith says after initial start-up costs which were estimated at 12 million dollars, “enrollees will pay their own premiums and there is no ongoing expense to taxpayers…. This is a pay-your-own-way plan.”
House Republicans’ health care point man, Dellwood Representative Matt Dean, warns it will force more rural Minnesota hospitals and other providers out of business. Dean says Democrats “want command-and-control, top-down, Soviet-style health care for Minnesota, and people aren’t gonna like it and they’ve already got their first taste of it.”
Here’s the interview with Lt. Gov. Smith:
And with Rep. Dean: