Minnesota’s state budget continues to grow and grow, even after adjusting for inflation and population. Total spending in...
Supplying Competitive Electricity Rates | Not long ago, Minnesota’s energy policy focused on providing “adequate and reliable services at reasonable rates.” As a result, Minnesota benefited from low and competitive...
Last week news broke from the Star Tribune that the Minnesota Department of Commerce “asked” PreferredOne to lower rates. At the same time the Star Tribune was developing their story,…
A new study published by the Brookings Institution reveals the rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is imposing far more volatility and harm on people in Minnesota’s individual market…
The Star Tribune reported yesterday that the Minnesota Department of Commerce “asked” PreferredOne to lower insurance rates in the MNsure exchange last year. The July 2013 letter referenced in the…
Obamacare hit the news headlines April 1 by meeting the Obama administration’s goal of enrolling 7 million people by the March 31 enrollment deadline. Casually read the Twin Cities’ news…
Here’s the headline from yesterday’s MNsure press release: “mnsure reaches milestone, exceeds enrollment goal.” Scott Leitz, the interim CEO for MNsure, is “thrilled that more than 136,000 Minnesotans have enrolled in…
Yesterday the MNsure board deliberated over whether or not MNsure—Minnesota’s insurance exchange—should take an “active purchaser” approach, which would empower MNsure to limit the health plans and choices available in the exchange.…
Today the board of MNsure, Minnesota’s health insurance exchange, is scheduled to vote on whether to move forward with an “active purchaser” approach that will allow MNsure to essentially pick…
President Obama would now like Americans to turn their gaze away from the spectacularly botched launch of the health insurance exchange website and look to all the people helped by…
News outlets can be forgiven if they didn’t bother to draw attention to the final rule issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on how members of Congress and…
Yesterday President Obama decreed yet another “tweak” to key provisions of Obamacare and provided a “transitional policy” to allow for the continuation of the millions of health insurance policies that…
This piece originally appeared in the Pioneer Press on April 7, 2013. Gov. Dayton recently signed legislation passed on a party-line vote to require Minnesota to establish and operate a…
This piece originally appeared on USA Today and was written by Peter Nelson and Josh Archambault. Governors need to require greater flexibility in order to tailor reforms to their state.…
Last week the Minnesota House and Senate introduced legislation to establish a state-based health insurance exchange. The exchange is meant to be a new online marketplace to facilitate the purchase of health…
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires the establishment of an American Health Benefits Exchange that “facilitates the purchase of qualified health plans.” States are directed to establish these exchanges and,…
As much as I continue to pore over news stories, blogs, and academic papers, at least five fundamental questions regarding the so-called bailout remain unanswered. ● First, why was everyone…
Way back in January 1997, Paul Volcker, chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987, led an FDIC-sponsored panel discussion on the 1980s banking crisis with Carter H. Golembe,…
Health care initiatives often get derided as a patchwork, an inefficient and uncoordinated effort to fix something that really needs a more comprehensive approach. By comprehensive, most think single-payer European-style…
The House and the Senate have now passed separate omnibus health and human services bills that attempt to increase the number of Minnesotans with health insurance and restrain escalating health…
Minnesota voters might have the opportunity to vote on a constitutional amendment next fall that would dedicate a portion of state sales tax revenue for environmental and conservation programs, as…
The performance of health savings accounts (HSAs) has muted most criticism of them. Initial research suggests these tax-favored savings accounts don’t favor only the young and wealthy. More importantly, people…
Gov. Tim Pawlenty recently made waves in a health policy speech when he said he believed Minnesota should move toward universal health coverage and that “as a goal, we should…
Tucked within the Minnesota House omnibus health and human services bill rests a proposal to create a statewide Health Insurance Exchange, a big idea that if passed into law would…