State Senator Jim Abeler is calling on Minnesota’s health plans to freeze premiums at this year’s level, then reduce them by whatever they can. The Republican from Anoka says, “They didn’t exist to build their reserves. They didn’t exist to build a nice building or to have foundations. They exist to serve Minnesotan[s].” Abeler’s comments come after a 542-million-dollar “reinsurance” subsidy from the state became law last night at midnight. He says Minnesota’s H-M-Os have become “a bit clouded and unfocused” and that feeling is growing among other lawmakers as well.
Governor Mark Dayton let the controversial “reinsurance” measure go into law without his signature, saying that vetoing it would have been “a pretext or a justification for the health insurance companies to pull out of the individual market entirely.” Dayton adds, “We were on the borderline of that last summer when Blue Cross Blue Shield pulled out.”
Senate Republican Majority Leader Paul Gazelka estimates the state paying for reinsurance will keep health insurance premium increases about 20 percent lower than they would have been. Gazelka says based on talks he had with insurance companies, he expects that at least one, and preferably two plans will be available everywhere across the state.
Hear the interview with Abeler: