SD19 DEMOCRATS: Health care coverage a key topic at 2025 Legislature

My column has been missing for a variety of reasons during the last two months. Despite being fully vaccinated, I contracted influenza and lacked the energy to accomplish much of anything in much of the first weeks of the year. I generally focus on state legislative action. Yet that was difficult during the early weeks of the session.

The Minnesota Legislature was scheduled to convene on Jan. 14. House Republicans attempted a power grab, while two DFL seats remained in question. DFL House members boycotted, appealed to the state Supreme Court, and received a favorable ruling that a quorum of 68 House members must be in attendance to pass legislation. A power-sharing deal finally was reached and the full House convened on Feb. 6.

One critical issue that will be on the 2025 docket is health care coverage. Every Minnesotan, regardless of race, geography, ability, or income, should be able to get the health care they need.

In Minnesota, greedy health insurance companies are once again demanding public subsidies to cover their costs. Minnesotans have paid $1 billion in public funds to health insurance companies for "reinsurance" since 2017. Reinsurance was initially created by the Minnesota Legislature to stabilize high health insurance for individuals who aren't insured through an employer and aren't eligible for Medicare or Medicaid. Healthcare insurance corporations are highly profitable. Now they want another $512 million to extend the program.

Other states require insurance companies to pay a set percentage of their premiums to a reinsurance pool. Insurance companies can then use that money to cover a portion of high-cost claims. Essentially, it's like an "insurance policy for insurance companies" where every health insurance company contributes to a fund to offset large, unexpected losses like cancer treatments and prolonged hospital stays.

It's time Minnesota reformed its reinsurance program and insisted health insurance companies pay into an insurance pool from its exorbitant profits rather than continue to milk Minnesota taxpayers. This bill hasn't been offered up yet but expect Minnesota's Republican legislators to go to bat for the insurance companies against the interest of taxpayers.

At the same time, the GOP-led Congress is trying at the federal level to dramatically cut Medicaid healthcare coverage for low-income Americans. The savings will pay for massive tax cuts for billionaires and corporations. President Trump wants Congress to pass the House GOP's version of a budget reconciliation bill that includes $880 billion in Medicaid cuts and $230 billion in SNAP cuts. Those cuts would provide $1.1 TRILLION in tax cuts for those with incomes in the top 1%! Nearly 1.2 million Minnesotans rely on Medicaid. Trump's budget agenda is Robin Hood in reverse.

But this isn't a done deal. These cuts are deeply unpopular, and Republicans have only razor-thin majorities in the U.S. House and the Senate. We need to hound our Republican lawmakers to remind them that their legislative futures depend on who they side with. Let's flood U.S. Representative Brad Finstad's phone lines with calls!

Please take two minutes to call Finstad's office at 202-225-2472. Insist he represent his Minnesota constituents by rejecting the proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. Your call matters.