2 Bills To Fix MNsure Pass Capitol Committees
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Minnesota's health care exchange, MNsure, is under fire at the Capitol. Two committees approved bills on Wednesday that make drastic changes to MNsure, including abolishing the health care exchange completely.
The death of a Jackson, Minnesota woman who thought she had insurance but did not is the emotional force behind the legislation.
Some lawmakers want to abolish the health exchange and move Minnesota to the federal system at Healthcare.gov.
"It's a computer glitch when you sign up for a campsite on the DNR website and you get the wrong campsite," Rep. Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, said. "If you think you have health care and you don't have health care, that's not a glitch -- that is a big problem."
Dean's bill is one of several MNsure fixes moving at the legislature.
Another one, from MNsure's original architect, takes away it's independence and makes it a state agency.
"We looked back on the first year of open enrollment in 2014, which was a pretty difficult roll-out for MNsure -- nobody's trying to deny that -- but there have been some successes as well," Sen. Tony Lourey, DFL-Kerrick, said.
Under new management, MNsure says it is much improved from it's rocky roll-out, enrolling 183,018 Minnesotans in public and private health plans and lowering by 40 percent the number of people who don't have insurance.
But even Gov. Mark Dayton says he's open to changing MNsure, including abolishing it. But he's asking lawmakers in a letter to slow down and avoid massive disruptions for consumers.
"Look before you leap," he said. "We'd better know what we are considering doing before we try to carry out something of that magnitude."
Despite what you hear about MNsure's problems, it has signed up nearly 500,000 Minnesotans for health care in the last 16 months. Before the legislature changes MNsure, the Governor wants a 6-month Blue Ribbon Panel to take a step back and figure out what, if any, changes will actually help.
The state of Oregon had a catastrophic roll-out of its health exchange, considered worse than Minnesota's.
It decided last year to end the exchange and go to the federal system.
