Strib: Minnesotans could save 12.3 billion in healthcare costs
February 6th, 2008 5:25 pm by Jason B.Good Strib article out today. Let’s hope T-Paw answers with a little more can-do optimism. An important issue that needs to continually be addressed is the freedom of Advanced Practice Nurses (APRN’s). APRN’s need less restrictions when it comes to writing prescriptions and also need better recognition for reimbursement through insurers. This will help improve healthcare for all Minnesotans by providing better access and quality. Key legislators helping the cause for nurses: Rep. Paul Thissen, Rep. Tom Huntley, Rep. Erin Murphy, Rep. Diane Loeffler, Rep. Maria Ruud (she is a Nurse Practitioner), Sen. Tony Lourey, Sen. Linda Berglin.
*Update 2/10/08* Corner House Comments writes his analysis of H.R. 676, the most well-known push for universal healthcare at the federal level.
Minnesotans could save billions in health care costs, task force says
A report recommends a wide range of ways to improve care and trim costs by $12.3 billion.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty said there’s much he likes in the wide-ranging recommendations he received Tuesday from a task force he appointed to find ways to improve health care in Minnesota.
But he stopped short of endorsing some of the panel’s recommendations, such as requiring Minnesotans to buy health insurance or raising the cigarette “health-impact fee” to discourage smoking.
“I think we’ve done enough to smokers for now” by banning smoking in most bars and restaurants and adding the 75-cent fee, he said. And requiring everyone to have insurance might “criminalize poor people” who can’t afford it, he added.
Still, Pawlenty said the task force report “can be the framework for a significant health care reform initiative in Minnesota.”
The broad range of recommendations would link doctors, hospitals, employers, patients, insurers, schools, communities and policy makers in initiatives aimed at paring $12.3 billion from health care costs otherwise projected to soar from about $30 billion now to $57.4 billion by 2015.
“Maybe we can do that without mandating health care coverage or the tobacco fee,” said Rep. Tom Huntley, DFL-Duluth, co-chair of the task force.
“But we’ve got to start now,” Huntley added. “Paying docs to keep people healthy and reducing the number of uninsured can make a huge difference.”
Pawlenty and legislative leaders said they will try to hammer out a proposal to present to the Legislature, which convenes next week.
But the task is daunting at a time when Minnesota faces a budget deficit and the Legislature will focus much of its attention on bridges and other transportation issues, Huntley and others said.
The task force recommendations are similar to those due later this week from a legislative commission. Both groups spent the summer analyzing the health care system and seeking ways to change how health care is delivered and paid for in Minnesota.
‘Can’t do this piecemeal’
“I’m hopeful we’ll be able to get together [with the governor] on a plan, but we can’t do this piecemeal,” said Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis, co-chair with Huntley of the legislative commission and a member of the task force.
Huntley said the most expensive immediate need is about $57 million for a public education campaign to reduce smoking and obesity, and to educate Minnesotans about the new system.
Among the task force recommendations:
• Set statewide standards for physical activity in schools and require them to offer meals that exceed federal nutrition guidelines to fight obesity.
• Offer health-insurance subsidies to low-income people. For instance, a family of two earning less than about $3,400 a month — three times the federal poverty guideline — should pay no more than $238 monthly for insurance.
• Eliminate insurance premium variation based on health status, but allow differences based on age, smoking and where someone lives.
• Allow doctors and hospitals to set their own prices, but stop negotiating discounts with insurers so that a patient would pay the same regardless of insurance plan.
• Set up ways for consumers to easily compare costs of different providers, including costs of “baskets” of comprehensive maternity care and other conditions.
February 9th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Where’s State Senator Kathy Sheran on this issue ? Sheran has worked in clinical practice as an RN and in nursing education for 30 years.
It may be early in data development, but if you want to compare health care costs, this news story describes how Twin City “area residents compare the cost and quality of more than 350 health services from local, competing health care providers and select a care provider.”
Please reconcile how low income families to “pay no more than $238 monthly for insurance” while a Canadian family of four pays $108 ?
America may not be getting its best return on its health care dollar. So, if Canadian-style health care is to be option, there are concerns such as :
1. Canada’s health care system is “socialized medicine.”
2. Doctors are hurt financially by single-payer health care.
3. Wait times in Canada are horrendous.
4. You have to wait forever to get a family doctor.
5. You don’t get to choose your own doctor.
6. Canada’s care plan only covers the basics. You’re still on your own for any extras, including prescription drugs. And you still have to pay for it.
7. Canadian drugs are not the same.
8. Publicly-funded programs will inevitably lead to rationed health care, particularly for the elderly.
9. People won’t be responsible for their own health if they’re not being forced to pay for the consequences.
10. This all sounds great — but the taxes to cover it are just unaffordable. And besides, isn’t the system in bad financial shape?
Take this True-False Test . The hyperlink gives you the answers.
February 10th, 2008 at 12:45 am
[…] over at IDHA takes a look at the issue and the recent recommendations from the Minnesota’s task force […]
March 10th, 2008 at 3:13 am
[…] Erin Murphy (DFL 64A) has been an excellent advocate for nurses. Just recently, I wrote Strib: Minnesotans could save 12.3 billion in healthcare costs in which I mentioned Rep. Murphy’s continuing support. Since finding who served on the […]