Is Minnesota getting closer to universal health care for children? The Children’s Health and Security Act, which aims to provide health care to all Minnesota children by 2010, passed the Minnesota Senate’s Health and Family Security Committee in mid-March.
The bill would combine all of the state’s children into one very large purchasing pool, which would, according to its supporters, have the power to pressure health care providers and pharmaceutical companies to provide more care for less money. Split into two phases, the bill would first provide for the children whose family income is less than 300 percent of federal poverty guidelines. In 2010, the program would be open to all children in Minnesota. Participation would be optional.
Additional funding will be required, should the bill pass, and the sources of this funding remain unresolved. As we go to press, the bill, SF0020, is waiting to be heard by the Taxes Committee. Its companion bill in the House, HF0132, is waiting to be heard by the Health Policy and Finance Committee.
State Senator Yvonne Prettner Solon (DFL-Duluth) and State Representative Paul Thissen (DFL-Minneapolis) co-authored the bills.
