Affordable Care Act advocates say Medicaid expansion could mean big drop in uninsured Blacks, Minnesota state budget savings

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The Greater United Way held a “community conversation” December 4 at the Wilder Foundation in St. Paul on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and how it can help low-income uninsured Minnesotans. Minnesota Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson and NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center CEO Stella Whitney-West, HealthPartners Government and Community Relations Vice President Donna Zimmerman and Jonathan Watson, Minnesota Association of Community Health Programs associate director spoke to an audience mainly composed of local health professionals.One-half of NorthPoint’s clientele are on Medicaid, the federal health program for low-income individuals and families. Thirty-seven percent are uninsured and 80 percent are from communities of color, Whitney-West pointed out.“North Minneapolis always shows up in the highest percents for adult obesity, smoking rates, diabetes and for uninsured,” Whitney-West said.Right: Stella Whitney-West is CEO of NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center (Photos by Charles Hallman)Although nine percent of Minnesotans are uninsured, Watson stated that the percentages among Blacks and other people of color are nearly three times higher: 20.4 percent for Blacks, 25.4 percent for Latinos and 23.3 percent for Native Americans. With the ACA, the number of uninsured Blacks in the state will drop to eight percent, he predicts.Having more people with health coverage is “the good news,” noted Jesson. Continue Reading

Details emerge on Minnesota state health insurance exchange

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Barring some unforeseen mishap, it doesn’t appear Minnesota will be stuck with a federally imposed health insurance exchange. Two signals indicate the state should be operational for an October 2013 open enrollment period.First, the state submitted its blueprint for a Minnesota-made health exchange, ahead of a delayed federal deadline. Second, the election cleared what would have been serious legislative obstruction.I recently sat down with the head of Minnesota Department of Management and Budget (MMB), Commissioner Jim Showalter. Under the Health Exchange Task Force, work groups of providers, business, and consumer groups have been analyzing the various components of implementing the exchange. Now, various work groups are coming back together and will begin to finalize some of the bigger questions regarding the exchange.The biggest question has to do with how the exchange will be governed. Continue Reading

Time for Minnesota to move forward on health care reform

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With the June Supreme Court decision and 2012 presidential election behind us, it is now clear that the nation’s health reform law – the Affordable Care Act – is here to stay. That’s great news for Minnesotans. Many have already begun to benefit from the law, including young adults who are now able to stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26. And many more Minnesotans will be able to access affordable health insurance as other major provisions take effect in 2014. Continue Reading

Commission questions health exchange development funds

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The Legislature accepted $28.5 million in federal money last session to help implement a state-run health insurance exchange. But the Legislative Advisory Commission exhibited some buyer’s remorse, saying funds are being used to develop a program that has too many unanswered questions.

Comprised of five House members and five senators, the commission reviewed the latest $42.5 million federal grant, which some say would move the state further down the road to a program mandated through the federal 2010 Affordable Care Act, which may see significant changes depending on upcoming election results.

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FREE SPEECH ZONE | America falling further behind in global healthcare

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 As we continue to get wrapped around the axle of intricate detail in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) now before SCOTUS, we are experiencing a classic case of not seeing the forest for the trees. While we debate the minutiae of a several thousand page document, and critics such as  Michele Bachman claim it will “infringe on personal liberty,” what we really ought to be discussing is assuring that all our citizens will have affordable and universal health care – just as every developed nation in the world, except one, now provides its citizens!  The one developed nation without universal health care: the United States of America. And the arguments against the insurance mandate are so spurious and weak (when viewed globally), it is surprising they are even challenged. Indeed, that is precisely how the rest of the world is getting healthier, while we lag behind.The United Nations has long had criteria as to what constitutes an “industrialized, developed nation”. There are currently 33 on that list. Continue Reading

Senator Durenberger on health care reform

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Former Senator David Durenberger has been involved in health care policy for decades, first as a proponent of HMOs in the 1970s, and more recently as a advocate for national health care reform. He is currently a senior health policy fellow at the National Institute of Health Policy at the University of St. Thomas, and recently spoke to the TC Daily Planet about health care reform and access to health care. This is part of our New Normal coverage on health care.You’ve been involved in the health care debate for a long time. Why are you so interested in the topic?I used to work for a large employer in St. Paul, which, along with another dozen large employers in the Twin Cities decided that the only way to reduce the costs of employee benefits was to deal with the costs of health care, which were out of control. Continue Reading