| In today's budget proposal, the Governor advocated the elimination of insurance coverage for over 100,000 Minnesotans and raising the cost of insurance for people with private insurance by reducing the provider rate for hospitals.
In other words, the Governor going back twenty years or more and breaking our state's long-standing commitment to make health care affordable for working Minnesotans.
But it is worse than that. The Governor's cuts pose the real possibility of closed clinics, hospitals and nursing homes statewide. Those closures affect everyone in a community.
It is also a foolish strategy when job retention and creation are crucial to our economic recovery. Cutting hundreds of millions of health care dollars will weaken one of the largest economic sectors in our state - the health care industry. In the last year alone, Twin City hospitals have eliminated over 1,200 jobs. And according to estimates, the Governor's proposed cuts will mean a reduction of over $1 billion in economic activity in Minnesota, the elimination of more than 9,300 jobs and the loss of over $400 million in wages and salaries in Minnesota. That is not a recipe for an economic recovery.
Contrast Governor Pawlenty's diminished vision of our state with legislation -- the Minnesota Health Security Act -- that I will proudly present in the House Health and Human Services Committee tomorrow.
It starts with a simple premise that every Minnesotan can rally around: Every Minnesota child -- and ultimately every Minnesotan -- should be able to see a doctor or a nurse when he or she needs to.
While we have made signficant progress in making that vision a reality, 80,000 children in Minnesota continue to live without health insurance and are just one health care crisis away from catastrophe.
And we need to say loud and clear that 80,000 children without health coverage remains unacceptable in Minnesota, budget crisis or not. Most certainly, the current economic crisis does nothing to diminish the need for quality, affordable health care for all the children in this state. In fact, I would argue that the state's current economic crisis is exactly the time when we need to act boldly.
As pointed out earlier, affordable, meaningful health care for all, starting with children, is a necessary part of an economic recovery, especially if we want that recovery to be sustainable and stable.
The Minnesota Health Security Act would provide the type of immediate help thousands of Minnesota families need today whether they are facing the threat of a foreclosure due to unpaid medical bills or have recently lost a job and are struggling to afford the costs of coverage.
Businesses, especially small businesses, in Minnesota would see immediate relief from rising health insurance costs.
But even more than the mechanics of the bill, the Minnesota Health Security Act is important because it presents a vision and a pathway to a health care system that works for Minnesotans and that is there for them.
The legislature's job is about more than balancing a budget on time. Now is the time to take our larger leadership obligations seriously.
Ed. note: Paul Thissen is a State Representative in the Minnesota legislature. He recently announced he would seek the DFL endorsement for Governor -- his campaign can be found online at http://paulthissen.com/. |
