A showdown over health care could in the cards at the State Capitol early next year, with Governor-elect Tim Walz pushing to give more Minnesotans access to health coverage through state-run MinnesotaCare, while Republicans want a free-market system. “We’re gonna have to have a conversation on how to keep the healthy system of MinnesotaCare open, and then… keep those commitments that we made to people,” says Governor-elect Walz. The flash-point could end up being the provider tax, which is scheduled to sunset next year and helps pay for MinnesotaCare. Senate Republican Majority Leader Paul Gazelka says that will be a big debate. “We get federal dollars that are enough to cover MinnesotaCare, so what about all the other things that we’ve decided that we are gonna pay for, and what are we gonna do about that?”