MMA News Now
GAMC Enrollees to be Switched to MinnesotaCare
Minnesota Human Services Commissioner Cal Ludeman announced in November that the Pawlenty administration will automatically shift people enrolled in the General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) program into MinnesotaCare, the state’s subsidized health insurance program.
The one-time enrollment shift will take place March 1, when the GAMC program ends as a result of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s unallotment of funding earlier this year. GAMC is a state-funded program that covers adults earning up to 75 percent of poverty or $677 a month for one person.
Counties will pay the former GAMC enrollees’ MinnesotaCare premiums for up to six months. After that, individuals must re-establish their eligibility and cover their own premiums, which average about $5 per month.
Sound Opposition
Members of the health care community and others responded by saying it is an inadequate solution, and that it is unlikely that those currently in the GAMC program will be able to cover the costs of copays and premiums required by MinnesotaCare and that MinnesotaCare would not provide adequate hospital coverage.
Rep. Tom Huntley (DFL-Duluth), chair of the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee, said in a written statement following the announcement that MinnesotaCare isn’t designed to provide coverage to Minnesota’s poorest and sickest residents. He noted it will be very difficult for former GAMC enrollees to maintain their eligibility, as many earn less than $3,000 a year, making MinnesotaCare’s premiums and its 10 percent co-pay unaffordable. Others said the shift will drain the Health Care Access Fund, which is funded by the 2 percent tax on health care providers and helps pay the cost of MinnesotaCare. The MMA believes using the Health Care Access Fund for the GAMC program could deplete it in as little as 18 months. If the fund runs dry, people would be disenrolled from the program, starting with adults without children, according to statute.
“This is an acknowledgement by the Pawlenty administration that these 28,000 people need coverage,” says Dave Renner, the MMA’s director of state and federal legislation. “But it is not a solution. It does not solve the long-term problem created by the governor’s veto of GAMC funding.”
The MMA has long opposed Pawlenty’s attempts to change the funding source of GAMC. During previous budget cycles, the governor has proposed funding GAMC with Health Care Access Fund dollars. The MMA’s position is that the cost of covering GAMC participants should be borne by a broad-based funding source such as the state’s general fund rather than the Health Care Access Fund.
Hospitals Cut Short
The shift also won’t resolve the problem of paying hospital costs for these individuals, as MinnesotaCare has a $10,000 hospitalization cap. Regions Hospital has been working to educate lawmakers about who uses GAMC. A story in a hospital publication recently described an uninsured patient with a low-wage job who came to the emergency room and was admitted after being diagnosed with leukemia. While the patient was in the ER, Regions enrolled him in GAMC, which covered his more than $135,000 in medical bills. Without GAMC, the man would have remained uninsured, as MinnesotaCare does not provide immediate coverage.
Ensuring stable coverage for the GAMC population will be one of the MMA’s top legislative priorities during the 2010 legislative session.
MMA Members in the News
〉 Fatima Jiwa, M.D., chair of the MMA’s Minority and Cross Cultural Affairs committee, was interviewed on WCCO radio in October after the MMA sent out a press release urging patients of all faiths to get the H1N1 vaccine, even though some versions contain a pork byproduct. “We need to make sure that our minority populations who have concerns about gelatin know that it [the vaccine] is highly recommended,” Jiwa said during the interview. Jiwa described how the MMA contacted Islamic scholars to get theological guidance on the issue. The bottom line, she said, is that Muslims can have the versions of the vaccine that contain the pork byproducts if alternatives are not available.
〉 Benjamin Whitten, M.D., MMA president, was quoted in a Pioneer Press article about federal health care reform. The Pioneer Press quoted Whitten as saying, “If we get some type of a government-run program or reimbursement that’s tied to Medicare or remains significantly lower than private reimbursement or is less than the cost of providing care, access is going to be limited. We’re going to see more and more clinics that are closing or relocating.”
〉 Charles Billington, M.D., former chair of the MMA’s Obesity Task Force, was quoted in the Los Angeles Times in November about juice being a contributor to childhood obesity. The article noted that the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children introduced vouchers for fresh produce and reduced the juice allowance in October. This is a change the MMA had been pushing for since 2006. Billington, a researcher and endocrinologist at the University of Minnesota, said the problem with juice is that it is not much different from sugary water. “Having apple juice and eating an apple are not the same,” he said.
Delegates Support AMA’s Reform Strategy
The AMA’s health care reform position got a vote of confidence from physicians at the national association’s interim meeting in Houston in November.
Some physicians had put forward resolutions calling for the AMA to oppose the reform bill recently passed by the House of Representatives and to oppose any federal reform proposals that include a public health insurance option. The AMA House of Delegates voted down both measures, with the public option resolution losing 315 to 199 votes and the resolution to oppose the entire bill losing 350 to 167 votes.
The Minnesota delegation, which did not bring forward any resolutions, is generally supportive of the AMA’s health care reform efforts.
House Passes Repeal of SGR
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure in November that repeals the SGR formula, stops a 21 percent cut in Medicare reimbursement scheduled to take place in January, and gives physicians modest Medicare pay increases during the next decade. More than 200 Minnesota physicians responded to an MMA action alert calling on them to urge their lawmakers to pass this measure. At the end of November, the Senate had yet to pass a fix for the SGR formula, so stay tuned for more MMA action alerts.
Meet Your State Lawmakers
Nicholas Meyer, M.D., a surgeon at St. Croix Orthopedics, says attending Capitol Rounds was a great way to get face time with his state representative, Matt Dean, R-Dellwood.
Meyer is one of the many physicians who have taken advantage of the MMA’s Capitol Rounds program, in which MMA staff arrange for members to tour the Capitol and meet with their lawmakers.
“I really appreciated the opportunity to connect with my local representative on his turf,” Meyer said of his visit, which occurred earlier this year. “The MMA made this easy for me, and I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest and a little time in their schedule.”
If you don’t have time to go to the Capitol, the MMA can bring your state senators and representatives to you through a District Dialogue, a one-hour casual meeting that can be held in a home, at a coffee shop, in a clinic, or at any other venue that’s convenient for you.
Now is a great time to connect with your legislators. To learn more about these opportunities go to www.mmaonline.net/grassroots or contact Dennis Gerhardstein, dgerhardstein@mnmed.org or 612/362-3745.
MMA Is Tweeting
You can now follow the MMA on Twitter. Twitter is a free service that allows people to send and receive short (140 characters or less) messages. It’s another way for us to keep you abreast of the activities of the MMA and its members and to hear from you. If you already have an account, just start following @mnmed.
If you’re new to Twitter, here’s how to get started:
Create an account at www.twitter.com. You can use any name, up to 15 characters in length. This name will appear on your home page and with an @ in your posts (or tweets). You can view tweets online or have them sent to your phone as text messages.
Once you’ve signed up, you’ll need to “follow” people. You can search for names of individuals or groups to follow. When you opt to follow someone, their updates will appear on your Twitter home page.
To watch a video about how to use Twitter, go to www.mmaonline.com/twitter.