OPINION: Why Minnesota needs health reform

By Matt McMillan
Litchfield, Minn., Independent Review

Congress and the President are working to enact health care reform legislation that protects what works about health care and fixes what is broken. Minnesotans know that inaction is not an option. Sky-rocketing health care costs are hurting families, forcing businesses to cut or drop health benefits, and straining state budgets. Millions are paying more for less. Families and businesses in Minnesota deserve better.

MINNESOTANS CAN’T AFFORD THE STATUS QUO

• Roughly 3.6 million people in Minnesota get health insurance on the job (1), where family premiums average $13,184, about the annual earning of a full-time minimum wage job. (2)
• Since 2000 alone, average family premiums have increased by 90 percent in Minnesota. (3)
• Household budgets are strained by high costs: 22 percent of middle-income Minnesota families spend more than 10 percent of their income on health care. (4)
• High costs block access to care: 10 percent of people in Minnesota report not visiting a doctor due to high costs. (5)
• Minnesota businesses and families shoulder a hidden health tax of roughly $400 per year on premiums as a direct result of subsidizing the costs of the uninsured. (6)

(Continued here, with notes.)