A Minnesota House committee has killed three labor-backed health care initiatives, making it unlikely that uninsured Minnesotans will get coverage anytime soon.
The House Health Policy and Finance Committee, chaired by Rep. Fran Bradley, R-Rochester, on Friday rejected proposals to expand MinnesotaCare to cover more people and to hold Wal-Mart and other large corporations accountable when they don't provide health care.
Bradley also scheduled the committee to hear H.F. 3106, to make health care a right in the Minnesota Constitution, but the bill's sponsor, Minneapolis DFLer Neva Walker, withdrew the measure because she said she did not receive adequate notice of the hearing. Bradley, indicating that Friday was probably the only time the committee would hear the bill, went ahead and took testimony from opponents ? even though the bill had been withdrawn.
The committee voted 5-9 against H.F. 2691, legislation sponsored by Rep. Katie Sieben, DFL-Newport, to expand the state-run MinnesotaCare plan to cover more uninsured individuals and to open eligibility to small employers who currently can't afford coverage.
The committee also voted 5-6 against H.F. 2573, the Fair Share Health Act, sponsored by Rep. Joe Mullery, DFL-Minneapolis. It requires corporations with 10,000 or more employees to provide health care coverage ? or pay into a fund to support taxpayer-funded health plans.
Mullery said the bill won't solve the health care crisis, but would target huge companies like Wal-Mart that shift their health care costs onto the public. Forty-six percent of the children of Wal-Mart employees are either on medical assistance or uninsured, Mullery testified.
"They actually encourage employees and help them get on government-sponsored health care," he said.
Bernie Hesse, organizing director for United Food & Commercial Workers Local 789, said the legislation "is about corporate accountability." At the federal level, taxpayers currently pick up the tab for health care for Wal-Mart employees and dependents to the tune of $2.5 billion annually, he said, and millions more are spent by the states.
"We also shoulder the burden of the cost when (Wal-Mart) employees are forced to turn to the emergency room for their health care," said Rick Varco, director of communications and research for Service Employees International Union Local 113. "This isn't fair. It's not fair for the employees and it's not fair for the taxpayers."
Buzz Anderson, president of the Minnesota Retailers Association, testified against the Fair Share Health Care Act, saying, "This bill sends a terrible message to business."
All of the measures rejected by the House committee remain alive in the Minnesota Senate.
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A Minnesota House committee has killed three labor-backed health care initiatives, making it unlikely that uninsured Minnesotans will get coverage anytime soon.
The House Health Policy and Finance Committee, chaired by Rep. Fran Bradley, R-Rochester, on Friday rejected proposals to expand MinnesotaCare to cover more people and to hold Wal-Mart and other large corporations accountable when they don’t provide health care.
Bradley also scheduled the committee to hear H.F. 3106, to make health care a right in the Minnesota Constitution, but the bill’s sponsor, Minneapolis DFLer Neva Walker, withdrew the measure because she said she did not receive adequate notice of the hearing. Bradley, indicating that Friday was probably the only time the committee would hear the bill, went ahead and took testimony from opponents ? even though the bill had been withdrawn.
The committee voted 5-9 against H.F. 2691, legislation sponsored by Rep. Katie Sieben, DFL-Newport, to expand the state-run MinnesotaCare plan to cover more uninsured individuals and to open eligibility to small employers who currently can’t afford coverage.
The committee also voted 5-6 against H.F. 2573, the Fair Share Health Act, sponsored by Rep. Joe Mullery, DFL-Minneapolis. It requires corporations with 10,000 or more employees to provide health care coverage ? or pay into a fund to support taxpayer-funded health plans.
Mullery said the bill won’t solve the health care crisis, but would target huge companies like Wal-Mart that shift their health care costs onto the public. Forty-six percent of the children of Wal-Mart employees are either on medical assistance or uninsured, Mullery testified.
“They actually encourage employees and help them get on government-sponsored health care,” he said.
Bernie Hesse, organizing director for United Food & Commercial Workers Local 789, said the legislation “is about corporate accountability.” At the federal level, taxpayers currently pick up the tab for health care for Wal-Mart employees and dependents to the tune of $2.5 billion annually, he said, and millions more are spent by the states.
“We also shoulder the burden of the cost when (Wal-Mart) employees are forced to turn to the emergency room for their health care,” said Rick Varco, director of communications and research for Service Employees International Union Local 113. “This isn’t fair. It’s not fair for the employees and it’s not fair for the taxpayers.”
Buzz Anderson, president of the Minnesota Retailers Association, testified against the Fair Share Health Care Act, saying, “This bill sends a terrible message to business.”
All of the measures rejected by the House committee remain alive in the Minnesota Senate.
Related article
Minnesota Senate moves health care amendment