Making Matters Worse.

Well, well, well...it appears that the Governor may actually be coming around to the common sense take on HF 3391 (HT Gary)

Gov. Tim Pawlenty told legislators Monday that he is concerned that legislation now before a conference committee to revamp Minnesota's health care system might actually drive up costs instead of cutting them.

This has been a constant theme in my posting on this issue.

Health care costs continue to rise at "unsustainable" levels, he said. The Legislature's proposal, he said, would raise those costs further by expanding eligibility for state health programs. He said Minnesota still has "what is arguably the most generous human services system in the country."

Excuse me while I say....DUH! Every argument, every amendment from the House Republican Caucus tried to address that very fact - something that the DFL majority rejected time after time after time!

Under both bills, clinics could qualify for higher reimbursement by establishing themselves as "health care homes."
Those clinics would provide comprehensive and coordinated care, especially for patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. An estimated 80 percent of health care costs are spent on people with chronic conditions.
Pawlenty asked the legislators to simplify that concept, apparently after hearing concerns from some health care providers in rural or small, independent clinics who worry that they might not have adequate resources to compete with larger health systems such as Allina and HealthPartners.

Again - these are concerns that the HRCC tried to raise on the floor of the House....concerns that the DFL majority failed to address. Does the Governor really think that the DFL, in their utter arrogance of power, will listen to him raising these objections?

The Strib also (to their credit) reported that Sen Berglin brings up a point that Gary, the HRCC and I brought up during the debate....

Originally, he agreed to spending Health Care Access Fund money to enroll people who are eligible for MinnesotaCare, but he seems to have changed his position on that," Berglin said.
Minnesota has the lowest rate of uninsured people of any state, about 7.2 percent. Of those, half are eligible for MinnesotaCare "and getting them enrolled would be a big step toward universal health coverage," she said.

It would be a big step toward universal health coverage......can I say I told you so?

Seriously, we are talking about a complete overhaul of a system that is serving 92.8% of the people of Minnesota and of the remaining 7.2%, 3.6% should and could be in the system. Rather than make the system worse for the 96.4% that could and should be covered, we need to find a way to get the remaining 3.6% into the system we have now. It's not rocket science....