Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/sue-hegarty/page/4/)
Workers in five of the state’s labor unions are one step away from receiving a 2 percent across the board pay increase retroactive to Jan. 2, 2013through June 30, 2013 under a bill headed to the governor.
The House voted 71-56 on Monday to exercise its option under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to expand Medical Assistance, a federal Medicaid program for people with low incomes.
Since 1986, cash payments to the poorest of the state’s poor have not increased. Welfare advocates say they have a plan that would double payments without costing more money. However, it would mean shifting funds from other welfare programs in order to raise cash payments.
One of two health care bills on a fast-track to comply with federal health care reforms is on its way to the House floor without a previous contingency plan aimed at protecting the state’s financial burden, if federal funds disappear.
Controversy over a health care bill about how a new Minnesota Insurance Marketplace will work caused a House committee to lay the bill over for further consideration, even though the bill’s sponsor had anticipated moving the bill forward today.
Women who asked their mortgage lenders for a loan modification, and instead had their homes foreclosed upon, testified in support of a bill aimed at increasing regulations for mortgage lenders.
A custom-designed state health care program currently under construction and expected to roll out Jan. 1, 2014, will include some “must-haves” in order to comply with the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
“For a family of three experiencing homelessness, which solution costs taxpayers less money, one month in a shelter or one month in an apartment?” Jill Killbarda, a Habitat for Humanity volunteer coordinator, asked members of the House Housing Finance and Policy Committee.
The future framework for how individuals and Minnesota business owners, including 300,000 of today’s uninsured, could purchase health insurance coverage through an online competitive marketplace was unveiled by a bipartisan group of legislators.
Greg Opitz, of Richfield, is careful not to do anything to trigger another episode of shingles, a painful virus that affects one in every three people. At age 52, Opitz is eight years shy of the recommended age for getting the shingles vaccine, as determined by the federal advisory committee on immunization practices.Although the vaccine is approved for people age 50 and older, shortages have plagued medical professionals, leading the committee to keep the recommended immunization age at 60 and older. Introduced in 2007, Zoster is the only federally approved shingles vaccine on the market.“The ability to acquire the vaccine has been spotty since 2007,” said Kristen Ehresmann, Minnesota Department of Health director for infectious diseases. Previously, some people were turned away because the vaccine was not available, but not anymore.“Finally the supply is catching up with the demand,” Ehresmann said. “We’ve got it. Continue Reading