WILLMAR -- Although it's a week before the general election, the DFL House Caucus is touring the state to announce health care initiatives for the 2007 Minnesota Legislative Session. The leading DFL member of the House of Representatives Human Services Committee, Rep. Tom Huntley, DFL-Duluth, announced four main initiatives Tuesday at Rice Memorial Hospital as part of a four-day, 14-city tour.
Huntley was flanked by Rep. Al Juhnke, DFL-Willmar, and Sen. Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar.
"As the campaign ends, it is very clear to us, the top two issues for the 2007 legislature are education and health care," Johnson said, adding that the DFL wants to address health care issues early in the upcoming session.
"This should not be an end of the session deal," he said. "We are talking about people in need, children who don't have access to health care."
The four main tenets of the DFL plans include providing health care coverage for all Minnesota children under the MinnesotaCare program; allowing small businesses and farmers to buy health insurance through MinnesotaCare; lowering the cost of prescription drugs for seniors and others by using the state's purchasing program to buy drugs for them; and providing a monthly tax credit for caregivers who keep aging parents or dependent children in home care. Legislators point to a $120 million surplus in the state health care access fund for the programs.
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Providing health insurance for 68,000 uninsured Minnesota children would cost $92 million per year, but would help the state recover its leading role in health care, Huntley said.
"This would put Minnesota back in the lead for health care," he said, noting that he is hurt by the fact the Massachusetts has a universal health care plan and Minnesota doesn't have a similar plan.
Allowing the small businesses to buy coverage through the MinnesotaCare program would have no cost to the state, but would allow the businesses to get better rates because their risk would be spread over a larger pool, Huntley said.
The cost of leveraging the state's drug buying program for seniors and others without drug coverage would cost $800,000 per year, he noted.
The cost of the $200 per month tax credit for families caring for seniors or dependent children would be $4.8 million per year, but would save the public by keeping people out of expensive nursing home care.
"The cost of this program is an investment in people," Johnson said, noting that his grandfather lived with his family for five years while he was in elementary school.
"My grandfather was my teacher for five years," he said. "I learned things from my grandfather that I still remember today."
Huntley expressed enthusiasm for the DFL taking control of the House of Representatives on Election Day and for action on the health care initiatives.
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"Even if we aren't in charge, the bills will get introduced and we will push for hearings," he said.
Juhnke expects the DFL caucus to hit the ground running in January and address the issues.
"We are looking beyond the end of our noses and saying that healthcare is important for everyone," he said.
