Universal health care idea sparks discussion
By Mark Sommerhauser
Winona Daily News
Monday, November 05, 2007
Mike Maher says he’s seen the future for health care in Minnesota — and it isn’t pretty.
Health insurance premiums are skyrocketing. Drug costs, too. And millions of aging baby boomers will require more care in the years to come.
Minnesota’s current health care system isn’t equipped to handle it, said Maher, a nursing home administrator in Houston County.
“We’re circling the drain,” Maher said. “The system is that poor.”
Maher runs Tweeten Lutheran in Spring Grove and Harmony Community Health in Harmony. He says both homes are struggling to hire and pay staff, in part because of inadequate state compensation for their patients. Another problem is the cost of billing insurance providers for claims, he said.
Maher contends that non-profit care providers are caught in a larger tug-of-war over health care policy.
Some state lawmakers say a proposal for single-payer health care for all
Minnesotans could end that struggle.
Sen. Sharon Erickson Ropes, DFL-Winona, and Rep. Ken Tschumper, DFL-
La Crescent, pitched the idea to attendees at a forum Thursday at Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical.
Both are backing a proposal by Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, which was introduced at the end of
the 2007 legislative session and should be revived next year.
Ropes admits the proposal is still short on key details, and says it could take years to finalize. Such a plan would require the creation of an entirely new state department and would eliminate much of Minnesota’s private health-insurance industry. But supporters say simply airing the concept is a key step toward a top-to-bottom restructuring of health care in Minnesota.
“This is the first serious discussion of single-payer care,” Ropes said.
Such a system would collect an annual premium directly from taxpayers and place it in a fund controlled by an appointed health-care board.
Supporters like Marty say the plan would cover everyone while reducing health-care costs for most participants.
Marty contends the plan would save money by improving efficiency. He says it would cut administrative costs by creating one place for providers to bill. It would focus on prevention and reduce the need for costly emergency room visits by the uninsured or underinsured. And it would eliminate duplication of technology and allow patients to choose doctors near where they live.
The bulk of costs for those inefficiencies are currently borne by middle-class taxpayers, Marty argues.
A state single-payer plan would require the blessing of Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a prospect Ropes acknowledged isn’t likely.
Other Republicans, like Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Wabasha, aren’t believers either. Drazkowski says a single-payer system would increase patient costs while decreasing the quality of care.
The solution, Drazkowski said, is to allow for-profit insurance companies to do business in Minnesota.
“We need to introduce competition into the marketplace,” he said.
Health-care reform became a political football in Wisconsin this year, when lawmakers considered a universal health-care proposal. But the “Healthy Wisconsin” plan was scrapped in the late stages of a budget showdown between Gov. Jim Doyle and legislators.
That proposal would have created a fixed credit for recipients to buy from an approved menu of health-care plans. It would have been financed by a statewide payroll tax increase.
Whatever the method, lawmakers of all stripes seem to acknowledge the pressure is mounting to find a health-care fix. In the August special election to fill House Seat 28B, both Drazkowski and DFL candidate Linda Pfeilsticker listed health care among their top issues.
Maher is guardedly optimistic that the single-payer plan might be an answer for his nursing homes.
Others, like Herb Peter of Winona, expressed skepticism at the Thursday forum. Peter, a retired banker, said he’s satisfied with his existing coverage and fears losing it.
“I would like to see specifics on where and how there could be savings,” Peter said.