Meanwhile, over in the DFL-controlled Senate, a proposal to eliminate the MNsure board is moving forward, with a top Democrat questioning a recent board decision to prioritize what he calls “bells and whistles” for the exchange website.

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Dean is not the first to put forward the MinnesotaCare idea, which could help MNsure financially by expanding the number people buying on the exchange.

But Greta Bergstrom of TakeAction Minnesota said her group strongly opposes Dean’s bill, because MinnesotaCare has worked well for decades. TakeAction Minnesota was influential with DFL lawmakers in pushing to create MNsure, but the group questions whether people with incomes low enough for MinnesotaCare would find quality coverage from private insurers that’s affordable.

“It’s a program … that’s worked effectively for two decades, and really is a legacy program for the state of Minnesota,” Bergstrom said. Of Dean’s proposal, she said: “We don’t think it would work.”