Political Notebook: How much will health insurance rates go up?

Oct. 02--Minnesotans will find out today how much it will cost to buy health insurance on the individual market next year.

The Minnesota Department of Commerce is slated to release the 2018 rates for individual and small group health insurance plans. The announcement comes after lawmakers last session approved a $542 million reinsurance plan to help lower costs. The program is expected to lower premiums 20 percentage points.

At one point, it was unclear the reinsurance plan would be allowed to move ahead. The state needed a federal waiver for the program to take effect. It wasn't until late last month -- after Gov. Mark Dayton held a press conference denouncing the "nightmarish" process -- that the waiver was approved by the Trump administration.

But that approval came with a twist. In exchange for approving the waiver, the federal government cut funding for the state's MinnesotaCare program by $369 million. That program serves about 100,000 low-income residents.

Liebling: Dayton should have rejected waiver

Gubernatorial candidate and Rochester Rep. Tina Liebling said the governor should have rejected the Trump Administration's waiver because of the MinnesotaCare funding cut. She even texted the governor urging him not to accept the waiver.

"The purpose of the waiver is to make sure we don't lose money, and we're losing money with the waiver. I just don't see any justification for accepting it," she said.

Liebling would rather have seen lawmakers pass a premium assistance program to help people buying insurance on the individual market with the cost of insurance. Lawmakers approved such assistance this year, benefiting more than 112,000 Minnesotans.

The Rochester Democrat also worries that accepting the waiver puts MinnesotaCare in serious jeopardy. The tax that helps pay for it -- known as the "provider tax" -- is slated to sunset at the end of 2019. Legislators this session also approved using some of the money in the fund that pays for MinnesotaCare for other things.

"I worry that Gov. Dayton is presiding over the end of MinnesotaCare," she said.

Franken: Mayo needs to improve community engagement

Sen. Al Franken sent a letter last week to Mayo Clinic President and CEO Dr. John Noseworthy stressing that the clinic needs to do a better job of reaching out to the Albert Lea community.

Franken's letter comes as Mayo Clinic Health System is moving most inpatient services from its Albert Lea campus to its Austin location. That includes transferring the Intensive Care Unit and childbirth center.

In his letter, Franken writes that since talking to Noseworthy in August, his office has continued to get phone calls from "anxious constituents who are concerned about Mayo's plans."

He continued, "I urge you as a leader to create opportunities that increase engagement with communities across Minnesota and that provide more information regarding the transition of services. I also urge you to reconsider what actions -- including additional community meetings -- Mayo could take to inform the public of changes in your delivery models that could affect Minnesota's rural communities."

In addition, 1st District Rep. Tim Walz has requested the U.S. Government Accountability Office review the issues facing rural hospitals. He joins Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill as a co-requester of the review.

Heather J. Carlson covers politics for the Post Bulletin.

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