Minnesota Senators Vote To End Benefit Cap for State-Subsidized Health Insurance Program

The Minnesota Senate on Thursday voted 49-17 to repeal a $5,000 annual limit on benefits for childless adults enrolled in MinnesotaCare, the state's subsidized health insurance program, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Lawmakers initially approved the limit to address state budget problems in 2003. However, the cap has "resulted in some Minnesotans being denied treatment, medical supplies and prescriptions, even though they continued to pay their MinnesotaCare premiums," the Star Tribune reports. State Sen. Linda Berglin (D), the bill's sponsor, said the $51 million cost of eliminating the cap would come from a surplus in the state's Health Care Access Fund. The fund is supplied by a 2% provider tax on health care providers. The state House has yet to vote on a similar bill (Lopez, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 4/1). "This is the right thing to do medically, it is the right thing to do morally," Berglin said, adding, "This is a concern for people all over the state of Minnesota." But state Sen. Brian LeClair (R) said, "This bill doesn't do anything for the elderly, it doesn't do anything for the disabled, it doesn't do anything for children" (Stassen-Berger, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 4/1).