Senate Passes Health Care Premium Reduction Agreement

On a 47-19 vote, the Senate gave its final approval to the conference committee agreement to SF 1, a bill designed to offer financial relief to individuals purchasing health care in the individual market. The House is expected to pass the compromise bill, and Governor Mark Dayton is expected to sign it.

The $326 million dollar plan, which uses money from the budget reserves, will provide a 25 percent health insurance premium reduction for the 123,000 Minnesotans who purchase health insurance in the individual market, but whose incomes exceed the threshold for federal subsidies. It also allocates $15 million dollars to allow Minnesotans undergoing treatment for a specific list of serious illnesses to keep their doctor if their network is changing.

The bill was stymied for a time as Republicans pushed for a number of reforms in addition to the relief aspect of the bill. The reform measures agreed upon in conference committee and included in the bill allow for-profit health maintenance organizations (HMOs) into the individual marketplace in 2018 and allow farmers to join cooperatives to collectively purchase insurance.