Minnesota Senate Republicans today (Thurs) got their way, House Democrats agreeing to the state spending 700 million dollars over three years to hold down health insurance premiums by paying care costs for the most seriously-ill Minnesotans. Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller says what “reinsurance” does, “Number one, it stabilizes the market to keep rates lower… and then it also ensures access to all Minnesotans who would like to have that coverage.”
House Democrats say rather than sending tax dollars to insurance companies, make state-run MinnesotaCare available to everyone — but Coon Rapids Representative Zack Stephenson says Senate Republicans won’t agree, and for 167-thousand Minnesotans in the individual health insurance market
“we need to make sure they don’t suffer catastrophic premium increases this fall.”
Democrats note that “reinsurance” does nothing to hold down deductibles and co-pays.