ST. PAUL – House Democrats on Thursday are expected to pass their Health and Human Services Finance bill (H.F. 2414) which increases health care costs, cuts funding to nursing homes and fails to prevent rampant fraud in Minnesota’s childcare and other public programs.
The bill includes an extension of the health care provider tax that will add more than $2 billion to the cost of Minnesotans’ health care over the next four years, and includes changes to nursing home reimbursement rates that result in $68 million in cuts to Minnesota nursing facilities.
“This bill is simply too bad to be true and I’m not even sure which is the worst part,” said Rep. Joe McDonald, R-Delano. “Democrats spent all fall promising to reduce health care costs and now want to raise health care taxes. They are looking to cut funding for nursing homes even though the state has a $1 billion surplus and refuse to crack down on fraud in child care and beyond.”
McDonald said the bill also includes minimal changes to combat rampant fraud in public programs. Republican efforts to strengthen program integrity, prevent fraud, and increase penalties for fraudsters were blocked on the floor.
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