U.S. Senator Al Franken joined a crowd of over 80 Citizens Federation members and supporters on Jan. 22 for a press conference on the issue of  health care reform  It was held, fittingly, in theWellstone Hall room of the Duluth Labor Temple.

 Sen. Franken was prompted to speak in defense of the federal health care law passed last year, in the face of new calls in Congress for repeal or weakening of it piecemeal. Vicki Sanville, Citizens Federation President, opened the event by declaring the main  message, that “health care reform must move forward, not backward.”  She pointed out that the Citizens Fed wished that Congress had gone further than it did, and that here in Minnesota, efforts are being made to do just that in our own state. 

Sanville mentioned that the immediate focus is to work with the Dayton adminstration on getting control of health care   from the HMOs and into the  public sector. Trixie Weddig, a low income Duluthian who was on GAMC, said that she will be helped by the new federal law.  She will get health care via the early Medicaid money made available in the new law. Dan O’Neil, President of the Duluth Central Labor Body, told the story of his own brother with six chronic conditions who needs safety-net health care, and the stress of not knowing if you’re going to get care or not. 

Sen. Franken spoke last.  He emphasized the importance of the federal health care law, and   key “three-legged stool” components: Curbs on insurance companies’ cruel practices to  deny and limit care; subsidies to make care affordable; and mandating that everyone be in an insurance pool. 

Franken listed a number of provisions that are already in effect and helping people, such as: No denials for pre-existing conditions for children; no more lifetime benefit limits; children able to stay on their parents’ policies until age 26; tax breaks to help small businesses buy insurance; help for seniors with drug prices in the Medicare Part D donut hole; and requirements that insurance companies spend 80 to 85% of their premiums on actual care.

Franken, with a crowd of people standing behind him, praised the work of the Citizens Federation and the Central Labor Body, in pushing for health care reform.

HMO accountability issue heating up

For five years, the Citizens Federation and its statewide group, Greater MN Health Care Coalition (GMHCC) have been sounding the alarm about the HMOs in Minnesota wasting  taxpayer money in the public health care programs. 

GMHCC has pointed out how the HMOs make big unwarranted profits in the programs like Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare, not providing all the care they are supposed to, and falsely claiming that they are very financially efficient.  GMHCC relied, in part, on audits performed in the early 2000′s by the state Attorney General. Now, finally, others are waking up and joining the chorus. Spurred by efforts of Dave Feinwachs (whose reward was seeing the HMOs force him to be fired from the MN Hospital Assoc.) an airing of the story on KSTP -TV in the Twin Cities, other groups such as the MN Nurses Assoc. and TakeAction are bringing attention to the issue.  Most important, the new Dayton administration seems ready to act on this issue. 

 Putting their foot in it

The HMOs hurt their own cause by issuing a report in January  on their ideas to save the state money on its health care budget.  Only, their ideas were to cut  services and not touch the handsome slice of the pie that the HMOs keep for themselves. Not surprisingly, health care workers’ groups, disabilityadvocates and some legislators were not amused.  The HMOs’ report met with scathing criticism. 

Making the news

After an initial quiet spell since KSTP aired the story in mid December, other media have started picking it up, including the major daily, the Minneapolis Star Tribune.  They  reported on the problem of the secrecy of the HMO’s finances; their large  profits at the public expense; and the affront of their self-serving budget proposal.   

Next, the Star Tribune added its voice in a Jan. 30 editorial, saying that the state needs to answer the questions about  profits and spending of the public money.  The editorial even  questions the wisdom of the state contracting with the private HMOs altogether.  With the new public outcry, and the new Dayton administration, GMHCC expects to finally solve this problem.

HMO Whistleblower Points to Huge Waste of Taxpayer Money

To see a Twin Cities TV segment clip on this story, click here.

 To watch the half-hour video yourself, go to this website:  

www.vimeo.com/17156418