Democrats who control the Minnesota House and Republicans who run the Senate apparently agree the state should continue kicking in money to hold down increases in health insurance premiums, as bills cleared committees in both chambers Tuesday. H-M-O’s are pushing for an extension of what’s called “reinsurance”. Redwood Falls Republican Senator Gary Dahms says Minnesota used to have its own program to cover people with serious medical conditions, which kept the insurance market stable, “and then the ACA [Affordable Care Act or Obamacare] came along and blew that all up… and now we’re still trying to keep insurance rates somewhat in check.”
But Senator Jeff Hayden, Democrat from Minneapolis, warns fellow lawmakers that if they continue reinsurance, “We don’t have any real discussion today, other than what we had a couple of years ago, on what we’re actually going to do to help folks that are on the individual market.”