The state of health care in Minnesota is stark: 350,000 people are uninsured and 400,000 are underinsured, meaning they aren’t going to the doctor at times because of the cost of copays and deductibles. The United States spends the most on health care per person than any country in the world, and the quality is not the best. We can and must do better.

The one solution to this we can’t take is another “reinsurance” program like that adopted by the state in 2017 and 2018. This program gave $542 million over two years to health insurance companies in hopes of lowering rates, without making sure that actually happened. It was a massive giveaway to large companies with taxpayer dollars. And because of this program, Minnesota lost access to nearly $100 million in federal funding. Total cost of this single program was over $600 million. Minnesota can achieve better things with an investment of over half a billion dollars.

The solution is the Minnesota health plan. This bill would create a Minnesota health service and would guarantee health care to all Minnesotans. It would eliminate the expensive middle men of insurance companies and decrease overhead costs for health care services. This would create a better, more efficient and fairer health care system. I encourage you to contact your legislators and ask them to support this bill.

Alex Orlowski

Rochester