House health bill would deepen MinnesotaCare cuts

04/19/2005

Associated Press
April 19, 2005

About 30,000 adults would lose health insurance coverage under a spending bill unveiled today by House Republicans, who made deeper cuts to public insurance programs than Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposed.

The legislation from Rep. Fran Bradley, R-Rochester, would remove another 2,700 adults from the MinnesotaCare program by setting a lower income limit. That’s on top of about 27,000 who would lose eligibility for state programs under Pawlenty’s budget.

Bradley, chairman of the House Health Policy and Finance Committee, tied the fate of those 2,700 to the success of a casino proposal at Canterbury Park, which would add about $20 million to health programs under House budget targets.

Disabled people, the elderly, children and parents took priority over adults who aren’t caring for children, he said.

“These are able-bodied people who still would have benefits better than any state in our region,’’ Bradley said. “For the sake of our taxpayers, we’ve got to tighten eligibility.’’

The cuts would occur during the 2006-07 budget period, which begins July 1.

The proposal drew immediate opposition from Democrats, who said it would lead to more uninsured people and higher health insurance premiums as hospitals pass on the cost of caring for patients who can’t pay their bills.

“These are working people,’’ said Rep. Tom Huntley, DFL-Duluth. “This is taking people that are in the work force and forcing them into poverty.’’

A few other provisions stood out in the 328-page omnibus funding bill:

—Higher premiums and co-payments for MinnesotaCare.

—Low-income adults would have to pay more toward health care — spending down their incomes to half the federal poverty level — before qualifying for the state’s General Assistance Medical Care program. Pawlenty’s proposal set the level at 75 percent of poverty.

—State funding for nursing homes and long-term care facilities would rise 2 percent for the next two years in a row.

The House health committee is scheduled to vote on the bill Thursday.

If the bill clears the Republican-controlled House, it would still need to be reconciled with a more generous proposal expected from the DFL-dominated Senate.

The Senate last month approved legislation to undo MinnesotaCare cuts from two years ago. The Senate’s health funding bill probably won’t contain any of the reductions to state health programs proposed by Pawlenty and the House.