For better health care, Minnesotans need a personal option, not a public one
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a myriad of problems with our bloated and bureaucratic health care system. In a new op-ed in the Rochester Post Bulletin, Americans for Prosperity-Minnesota State Director Jason Flohrs asks, why double down on that failed approach?
Minnesota lawmakers are attempting to radically upend our health system under the assumption that “more government” is the best way to ensure access and affordability. In reality, it will do the opposite.
By pushing the so-called public option, lawmakers would allow the state to tax and regulate private insurance companies at the same time they are competing with those companies. It’s a recipe for driving private insurers our of the state, leaving Minnesotans with no choice but government-run health care.
“We know what happens next,” Flohrs points out.
In many European countries where privatized health care has been abolished and public care is the norm, patients are merely numbers, not individuals. Those who suffer from long-term or chronic illnesses often see their conditions deteriorate more under these systems due to long waits. And, as investment in new treatments and medical technology dries up, it’s Minnesota industries and jobs that will be hurt.
Lawmakers know their plan is a charade. That’s why they didn’t include a plan to pay for the proposal.
Instead of unaffordable charades like a public option, Flohrs argues for a personal option that would “improve access, reduce costs, and improve the quality of health care available to Minnesota residents.”
Read the whole thing here.
