Gov. gets health care plan for poor
Published 2:15 pm Saturday, March 27, 2010
Minnesota has a new law preserving state-run health care for more than 30,000 vulnerable adults.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s office says he signed the bill on Friday, less than a week before the General Assistance Medical Care program was scheduled to run out of money.
The new law was a compromise between the Republican governor and top Democratic lawmakers.
It slashes spending while putting the biggest safety-net hospitals in charge of coordinating care and prescriptions for the patients starting in June. The current program continues until then.
General Assistance Medical Care covers more than 30,000 adults each month, including the homeless, veterans, drug addicts and those with mental illnesses. Most live on less than $8 a day.