Hello from the State Capitol,
Recently the Minnesota House of Representatives approved an agreement on reinsurance, which significantly lowers health insurance premium rates for those Minnesotans who are forced to purchase it on the individual market. It was approved on a strong bipartisan basis. However there were 19 Democrats, from the far-left wing of their party, who wanted to see the private market collapse so government-run health care could be put in its place.
Reinsurance helped reduce health care premiums on Minnesota’s individual market by an average of 25.5% over the last 3 years. During that same time, health care premiums have jumped 25.9% nationally. It is one of the few government programs that works as intended, and it came in UNDER budget!
In this case, the legislation allows Minnesota to apply for the necessary waiver from the federal government to continue the program, extends reinsurance for five years, and provides funding for it for three of those years.
It took a while to get there, but the good news is we continued rate stability for those purchasing health insurance on the individual market, saved the market itself from destruction, and stymied plans for government-run health care in the State of Minnesota.
HIGHWAY 65 NEWS
Most of you are aware that Highway 65 has always been my top legislative priority, and there is some news to report on the topic this week.
This session, I am sponsoring legislation that would help with reconstruction along 99th, 109th, and 117th Avenues in Blaine, either through financing using our budget surplus or capital investment proceeds.
In its transportation finance proposal, the Minnesota Senate has included $15 million for Highway 65. To date, the House has not included any funding for our road, but I do plan to offer an amendment on Thursday that would match the Senate’s total. The House transportation proposal is expected to be passed out of committee on Thursday.
Have a good weekend,
Nolan