St. Paul, MN – This week, the House Health Finance and Policy Committee discussed HF 402, authored by Rep. Bierman (DFL-Apple Valley) legislation enacting a multi-pronged approach to protect Minnesotans’ interests during mergers, consolidations, and transactions involving health care systems. The legislation puts in place a streamlined structure for the state to more effectively regulate proposed transactions and mergers among health care entities now and into the future.
“Health care doesn’t work if people can’t access it,” said Rep. Bierman. “In a volatile market of corporate competition and consolidation, Minnesotans deserve strong protections to ensure Minnesotans can access health care when they need it at a price they can afford.”
The bill puts in place requirements for timely notifications ahead of the proposed completion date for a transaction, ensures nonprofit health care entities public benefit assets are properly accounted for public use, prohibits any health entity from entering into a transaction that would lessen competition, and lays out factors that inform whether a transaction is in the public interest, will increase health care costs, or decrease access for patients.
The current moratorium on conversions of nonprofit HMOs to for-profit models is set to expire on July 1st of this year. Rep. Bierman’s legislation would extend the existing moratorium on these transactions until July 1, 2026.
Notably, HF 402 also requires a health system that is organized as a charitable organization (including M Health Fairview U of M Medical Center) that sells or transfers control to an out-of-state nonprofit or to any for-profit to return to the General Fund any charitable assets the health system received from the state.
###