Health Care
Apr 16, 2012
Reporting on one of last week’s more irritating “get out of my face” events, the Star Tribune ran a piece about how an outfit in Boston, something called “Corporate Accountability International” had urged Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis to get rid of its McDonald’s restaurant, which has been onsite for more than 20 years. A spokesman for the group was quoted as saying how having such a restaurant in a hospital “really runs counter to the goals of a health institution.”
Mar 29, 2012
The Minnesota Senate passed a bill to create a new opportunity for people to pool funding from multiple sources into one account to pay premiums for insurance coverage. The goal of the bill is to make it possible for more people to afford private individual health coverage.
Mar 26, 2012
Thank you for bringing this legislation forward. I very much appreciate your efforts to highlight the issue and to promote meaningful public conversations about the implementation of an insurance Exchange through the Affordable Care Act. This legislation moves the conversation forward and articulates at least a few positions. In particular, the legislation offers a strong position on how an exchange should be governed and how an exchange should address conflict of interest issues.
Mar 26, 2012
Minnesota Free Market Institute at the Center has joined an Amici Curiae (friend of the court) brief concerning the “individual mandate,” a central provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), which was signed into law on March 23, 2010.
Mar 23, 2012
Next Monday, the Supreme Court will begin hearing three days of oral arguments on the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care legislation. One of the key provisions at issue is the constitutionality of the individual mandate—the requirement that all Americans must purchase health insurance.
Mar 16, 2012
Kim Crockett testified in the Senate HHS Committee this week in favor of the repeal of a moratorium on the construction of new radiation therapy facilities (for the treatment of cancer) in the 14 county Metro area. This long-standing moratorium favors one provider over other entrants into the marketplace. Matt Shafer from the American Cancer Society also provided testimony about the increase in cancer rates in our aging population (and concerns about access to care).
Mar 15, 2012
A bill would make it possible for more people to afford private coverage by creating a new opportunity to pool funding from multiple sources into one account to pay premiums for insurance coverage.
Feb 13, 2012
Should a state-focused think tank care about ObamaCare? How about state legislators? You betcha! That’s why the Minnesota Free Market Institute at the Center of the American Experiment has joined in a legal brief on the question of whether Congress can require you to purchase health insurance.
May 21, 2011
Early on in the legislative session, the Minnesota House and Senate set out to cut $1.6 billion from the health and human services (HHS) budget. These cuts are part of a broader strategy to balance Minnesota’s projected $5 billion budget deficit without raising taxes. Mid-week, the House and the Senate finished their work and passed a HHS budget with cuts totaling $1.8 billion. (They hit their $1.6 billion target for the general fund and cut another $222 million from the health care access fund.)
May 13, 2011
Doug Grow did his best on Wednesday to add some spice to an otherwise bland, but very important policy debate taking place at the Legislature. The headline to his article reads: "Surprise amendment stuns Senate during debate over health care costs."
