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on October 07, 2016
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News Alert: To Save or Not to Save METS: That’s the Real Question for Counties

Written by Tom Steward

Three years after a disastrous launch, the MNsure state health care exchange’s IT system (METS) remains so dysfunctional that county officials still struggling to implement it openly question whether the system should be scrapped. “The whole operability of the public program side is a complete, unmitigated disaster,” said Dakota County Commissioner Mary Liz Holberg. “After a while you just get numb,” said Pennington County Commissioner Darryl Tveitbakk. “…The administration of it has been a disaster.” “It's been three years of incremental improvements, temporary fixes and manual work-arounds for public healthcare programs,” Hennepin County Board Chair Jan Callison told Gov. Mark Dayton in a...

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on March 01, 2016
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DFL Lawmaker Bucks Nurses’ Union in Effort to Streamline Licensing

Written by Tom Steward

  Judy Santiago just wants a level playing field with the Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin nurses who compete with her. Minnesota has granted reciprocity to licensed nurses in neighboring states for ten years, allowing them to care for Minnesota patients, over the phone or in person, without requiring a Minnesota nursing license. But Santiago still has to buy a separate license to practice in each state, costing the Burnsville nurse time and money. "I know nurses who have 30 plus licenses in order to be able to work with patients telephonically," Judy Santiago said. "That's just ridiculous. It doesn't make sense." What's...

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on February 15, 2016
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MNsure Enrolls Millionaires in Medicaid and MinnesotaCare Programs

Written by Tom Steward

The Affordable Care Act was supposed to extend health coverage to millions—not millionaires. Yet while many families continue to struggle to afford medical insurance, some Minnesotans with millions in assets get free and low-cost subsidized health coverage through MNsure, the state health insurance exchange. “It’s happening all over the nation and all over Minnesota,” said Harlan Johnson, a Pequot Lakes health insurance broker and MNsure Health Industry Advisory Council member. “I've looked people on the MNsure Board of Directors right in the eye and told them this. They know it, but they don’t want to deal with it.” It’s a legal, but...

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