Category Archives: Post type

Hmong leaders of our Justice for Veterans campaign know the extreme and painful impacts of being excluded from American society. We value inclusion and dignity for all people and believe that any policy that makes it harder for anyone to participate directly attacks the basic rights and principles our people fought to protect back in Laos. That, in a nutshell, is why we are fighting to defeat the Voter Restriction Amendment. 

But the list of ways this amendment would make it harder for the Hmong community to vote goes on and on.

Elders don’t typically have current IDs. They simply don’t drive, smoke, drink alcohol, go to the movies, have credit cards, or use checking accounts. They also speak very little English and would need translation and transportation support to renew IDs.  Not to mention, retrieving original birth documents from Laos and refugee camps that you need to get an ID would be close to impossible.

Our grandmas and grandpas already face challenges in getting to the polls. But as they fought in Laos to create a better world for younger generations, they consistently turn out to vote in America to do the same.

They are often able to vote because of our excellent Election Day registration system, which makes up for insufficient translation and transportation support before elections.… Continue reading »

Minnesota is home to over 1 million citizens with criminal backgrounds. Many of them are low level offenders and a disproportionate rate of the incarcerated are people of color. When someone commits a crime, goes to jail and they pay a fine or whatever their debt to society, the expectation is for them to reintegrate. The reality is, society often does not want them back.  And thanks to the disparities in our criminal justice system, that has given the Twin Cities the dubious distinction of having the worst-in-the-nation racial jobs gap.  Our Justice 4 All campaign is fighting to close this gap by expanding fair hiring practices, but this fall we’ve turned our focus to defeating the Voter Restriction Amendment.

When someone comes home from the criminal justice system they are faced with housing discrimination, unfair hiring in the workplace and to top it off, have lost the right to vote until they complete probation and are “off paper.” The Voter Restriction amendment will expand discriminatory practices to all of us.  J4A leaders know this issue better than anyone else and refuse to see this discrimination enforced on the rest of the state.

The Voter Restriction Amendment is not a practical idea aimed at fixing a problem.… Continue reading »

TakeAction Minnesota’s health care team doesn’t just work on health care. This fall, the team is also working hard to defeat the Voter Restriction Amendment, an Amendment that would take decision-making power of the hands of Minnesotans and eliminate the voice of people like us in critical decisions. Every week we’re knocking on doors and making phone calls because the future of health care reform will suffer if more of us are cut out of our Democracy.

This winter, when the legislature returns, lawmakers will face two major choices about public health care in our state: whether or not to expand Minnesota’s Medical Assistance (or Medicaid) Program, and whether or not to save Minnesota Care. By taking expanding Medicaid, Minnesota could provide affordable, high-quality health insurance to 57,000 more people in our state,funded 100% by the federal government for the first three years and 95% after that.

Legislators will also face a choice about the future of the MinnesotaCare program (MN Care). MN Care is a pillar of Minnesota’s strong public health care system, a program that provides health care to 148,000 low-and-moderate income Minnesotans who need protection and support in order to find affordable health care coverage.  In January, legislators will choose either to save and expand MN Care by creating what’s called a Basic Health Plan or they will choose to eliminate the program and move adults off Minnesota Care and onto the private insurance market.… Continue reading »

Nearly 1 million MN women guaranteed access to preventive health services at no cost.  Thanks again Obamacare!

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has delivered yet another huge benefit this month!  As of August 1, 2012, women across the country started receiving guaranteed access in their health insurance plans to preventative health services without co-pays, co-insurance or a deductible.

What kinds of services are now covered without cost?  The list includes: well-visits, HIV screening and counseling for sexually transmitted infections, domestic violence screening and counseling, breastfeeding supplies, and family planning counseling.  According to a new study – 47 million women in the U.S. will benefit from these new services – including nearly 900,000 Minnesota women.

Check out this infographic from Planned Parenthood Action to see what all these services mean to women, their families, and our country:

No cost-sharing for preventative services is just one of the many benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).   The new federal health care law also bans discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, allows young adults to remain on their parent’s health plans until the age of 26, and does away with lifetime and annual limits.

Thanks again Obamacare!

Elizabeth Lienesch

Elizabeth Lienesch is TakeAction Minnesota’s Deputy Training & Organizing Director.  … Continue reading »

America’s founders disagreed about many things, but were united by one desire: they wished to leave behind the aristocratic form of government they’d experienced as a colony of Great Britain.  They wasted no time in doing so.  Thomas Jefferson, writing to John Adams, recounted that:

“At the first session of our legislature after the Declaration of Independance, we passed a law abolishing entails. And this was followed by one abolishing the privilege of Primogeniture, and dividing the lands of intestates equally among all their children, or other representatives. These laws, drawn by myself, laid the axe to the root of Pseudoaristocracy.”

The abolition of inheritance laws were among the earliest acts of the Continental Congress.  Likewise, our first estate tax, the Stamp Tax, was among the first federal property taxes levied in U.S. history.  On the books from 1797 to 1802, it was proposed during George Washington’s presidency and enacted just 5 months into John Adam’s first term.  It was enacted and ended twice more before becoming a more permanent feature of our tax code in 1916.

The estate tax remains one of the most important anti-aristocratic safeguards we have.  It is also reason #3 to oppose extension of the Bush Tax Cuts.… Continue reading »

Our current tax system is slanted in favor of the super-rich.

That’s the basic judgment that Warren Buffett made when he recently pushed to make billionaires pay a tax rate similar to their secretaries.  To understand why Warren Buffett is right you need to understand the role of the capital gains tax.  It is reason # 2 for repealing the Bush Tax Cuts.

We treat different forms of income differently in our tax code.  A basic distinction is that between ‘ordinary income’ and income from ‘capital gains’.  Broadly defined, ordinary income is income from work; a capital gain is income that is received from profits on wealth.  In other words, you gain from capital when the value of an investment (i.e. mutual funds, bonds, stocks, options, real estate, and collectibles) increases above the price at which you bought it.

One of the major trends in our tax code over the last three decades is the shift from relying on taxing wealth to taxing work.  Changes in the capital gains tax has been one of the drivers of that trend.  Here are three ways its happened:

1)      We have reduced the Capital Gains Tax rate. From rates over 30% in 1970s we, we reduced it to 15% in the Bush Tax Cuts.… Continue reading »

As many of you know, TakeAction Minnesota led the successful grassroots and legislative campaign in 2009 to expand public health coverage to thousands of Minnesota children.  Good news: this important law went into effect this month!  

As of July 1, Minnesota children no longer face an onerous four-month waiting period before receiving health coverage. Several other barriers were also removed that have stood in the way of children gaining public health coverage for years in Minnesota.  Thousands of children will now receive access to the care they need in Minnesota thanks to this new law!  … Continue reading »

Our Congress is preparing to vote again on the Bush Tax Cuts.  After a two year extension the cuts are set to expire on December 31, 2012.  When paired with the planned across-the-board cuts to military and domestic spending (called sequestration) scheduled to take place in January of 2013, the debate is likely to play out before during and after the votes of the next week.

The Bush Tax Cuts, passed in 2001 and 2003, are a form of political junk food.  They almost sell themselves and they are good for absolutely no one (except the people who sell them, i.e. right-wing politicians).

The practice of using the tax code to hand out money didn’t start during the presidency of George W. Bush.  This particular fiscal tool, called tax expenditures, has been around at least since the Federal Income Tax was created in 1913.  In 1973 Secretary of the Treasury Stanley Surrey not only coined the phrase ‘tax expenditure’ but laid the groundwork for the requirement that they be reported as part of the federal budget process.  That report, though initially resisted, was signed into law by President Richard Nixon in the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.  The event that kickstarted this tax expenditure backlash was a revelation in a 1969 Congressional Hearing that 21 American millionaires paid… you guessed it… $0 in federal income taxes.… Continue reading »

According to a new study released by the Economic Policy Institute, the Twin Cities, again, has the nation’s highest level of racial disparity in unemployment. Two years ago, the EPI came out with similar findings, which shows how persistent this problem is in Minnesota. The July 2nd study compared 19 metropolitan areas across the country, finding that in the Twin Cities in 2011, African Americans were 3.3 times as likely to unemployed as whites. This is a staggering statistic that puts the Twin Cities as the metropolitan area with the highest racial disparity in unemployment. Our fight for fair hiring practices has never been more important.

To tackle the jobs gap, employers need to open up opportunities to people previously excluded from the workforce, specifically, those with a criminal record. This is pertinent to the racial unemployment disparity because of the racial disparities also present in the criminal justice system. People of color make up 15% of Minnesota’s population, yet experience high disparities in education and income, due to poverty and persistent racial profiling they account for 46% of those in the criminal justice system.  When people with criminal records are excluded from the workforce, disproportionately, so are people of color.… Continue reading »

Earlier today, the Supreme Court ended the debate over the Affordable Care Act and ruled conclusively that Obamacare is constitutional and here to stay. With the Supreme Court hurdle now cleared, it is time to end partisan bickering and put this new law to work for Minnesotans.
 
The law is two years old and implementation has been moving forward in Minnesota and many other states. Thousands of Minnesotans are already benefitting from the Affordable Care Act, including small businesses given tax credits, sick children who are no longer denied health coverage, young people allowed to remain on their parents’ health coverage as they navigate a challenging job market.  Over 80,000 of the lowest income Minnesotans are receiving the medical care they need through the expansion of Medical Assistance made possible by the Affordable Care Act.  Thanks to today’s decision, thousands more in Minnesota will have much more to gain from the Affordable Care Act as additional pieces of the law are put into place as Minnesota builds a Health Benefits Exchange. 
 
Wealthy corporations sought to repeal this legislation nationally and gut its key provisions.  In Minnesota, corporate interests have sought to put the new Health Exchange in the hands of health insurance companies instead of consumers. … Continue reading »

Recently, I was invited to attend a townhall on women’s health and the Affordable Care Act hosted by the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Some of Washington’s most powerful women were present: Secretary Sebelius, Michelle Obama’s Chief of Staff, Tina Tchen, President Obama’s Senior Advisor and many other public health and policy officials. It was incredible to be in a pressroom with a panel of such empowered women, as well as women presscorp from various states, races and backgrounds.

It was immediately clear to me how important the Affordable Care Act is in terms of creating pathways for access to long overdue care for low-income Americans; specifically women of color and their larger communities. Without the cost cutting individual mandate, subsidies, community-centered exchanges, and culturally relevant navigators (as opposed to business men in suits) — the law would be ineffective in its effort to reduce the staggering health disparities that plague our nation.

However, hearing the questions and stories from women who represent advocacy groups or disenfranchised communities, another reality became apparent: we have a long way to go, and a lot more to fight for.

The Affordable Care Act cannot be seen as an end-all-be-all or a quick fix to our nation’s health crisis.… Continue reading »

Most people would rather file their taxes than shop for health insurance.  And the person they trust the most for advice on choosing a health plan is, for better or worse, their mother.  Such are the findings of studies by the Consumers Union, the policy and action arm of Consumer Reports.

On May 14th, Lynn Quincy of the Consumers Union presented highlights from three recent consumer testing studies to a work group that is helping design the Minnesota Health Insurance Exchange.   The Exchange, which will launch in 2014, is a critical element of health reform.  Over one million Minnesotans are expected to use it to compare and purchase health plans and determine whether they’re eligible for public insurance programs or tax credits to make their health insurance more affordable.  A well-built Exchange can also offer increased protections and security to people buying insurance by making sure insurance companies play by the rules, and offer affordable, quality plans.

The studies found that people dread shopping for health insurance.  This may be obvious, but the implications are complex.  Because people want to get it over with, they take short cuts when comparing health plans, Quincy explained, and the short cuts often lead to uninformed choices. … Continue reading »

The legislative session is newly finished.   Over the course of a contentious few months, TakeAction members and leaders were an integral part of defeating several right-wing attacks on health care and our state budget.  We are now setting our sites squarely on November where a radical restructuring to our voting system will be on the ballot.

The GOP kicked off the 2012 session with several bills to put the state’s new “Health Benefits Exchange” directly into the hands of corporate insurance industry.   GOP legislators moved these industry-driven bills behind closed doors and in the dead of night, skirting rules about public notice and public testimony.  (At one point, Senate GOP Chair David Hann called a 9pm committee hearing on a Friday night with less than half-hour notice, and allowed only a right-wing think tank to testify on his bill.)

But TakeAction Minnesota members and leaders refused to hand our Exchange over to the insurance industry.   We made clear that we cannot allow the fox to guard the hen house of our Health Benefits Exchange.   Over 400 individuals joined a meeting with Commissioner Rothman on March 25, 2012 to call for a people-centered health Exchange instead that works to improve health for all Minnesotans. … Continue reading »

My earliest memories are about keeping quiet.  I remember coming home from grandma’s house to have my mouth washed out with Lava soap; my mom’s threatening steely eyed death stare when I spoke out of turn; and her mouthing the words “big mouth” at me while she imitated the gestures of a hand puppet.  Later a step-father would embed in my psyche the importance of keeping secrets.  I had no voice.

My experience in the justice system only compounded my feeling that I didn’t have a voice.  When I insisted I was not guilty of the crime — my court appointed attorney — threw his arms up in the air and exclaimed “What do you want me to do for you?”  I thought: “Do your job.  Stand up for me.  Tell the judge I’m innocent.”

Instead, I kept quiet out of fear and took the plea agreement. During my sentencing the attorney thought I should make a formal apology to the judge. I tried to speak but I was sobbing so hard that no one in the courtroom could understand me.  The demonstration of emotion angered the judge.  He sternly reprimanded me, and then sentenced me to prison.  I still had no voice.… Continue reading »

The conversation about the development of a Minnesota Health Benefits Exchange is moving quickly at the State Capitol.  Beginning in 2014, over 1 million Minnesotans are expected to use the Exchange to choose among health coverage options and obtain federal tax credits to offset the cost of that coverage.  The Exchange is a key component of the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010.

GOP legislators have introduced a series of bills that construct pieces of a health insurance exchange driven by the insurance industry.  Senator Gerlach (Apple Valley) has a proposal to establish an Exchange that has no ability to serve the interests of consumers.  Senator Hann (Eden Prairie) has introduced proposals to divert tax credits under the Exchange into thousands of industry insurance brokers.  Senator Hann also has a proposal to restrict entities who can fully serve as “navigators” in the Exchange to only licensed brokers.  TakeAction and our allies have been working hard to uncover the true intent of these proposals — to hand over our Exchange to the insurance industry — and voice our opposition to this approach to the Exchange.

Meanwhile, Senator Hayden and Representative Erin Murphy have introduced a proposal that would construct an Exchange designed to work for consumers. … Continue reading »

On Friday March 23, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, visited Minnesota to celebrate the second anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. The Secretary is visiting various cities across the country to hear women’s health care stories both so she can understand the realities of our current system, as well as how the law is changing lives in tangible ways. I had the privilege of attending the Minnesota gathering last Friday with my mother, Kathryn and a handful of other Minnesotan women whose lives have been changed by health care reform at the home of Minnesota Nurses Association President Linda Hamilton.  Governor Dayton, Senator Franken, and Representative McCollum were also in attendance.  I felt honored to be presented with this opportunity.

One by one, each woman shared her story. More often than not, the narratives shared were filled with emotional trauma, heartbreak and uncertainty due to lack of access to critical care or the financial means to pay for health care for themselves or their children.

Unfortunately, our stories are the norm across the United States; and there are millions more that speak to the terrible realities of what it means for individuals and families who experience long term lack of insurance.  … Continue reading »

While big-money insurance corporations amass premiums and fees to add to their already excessive “reserves” and administrative costs, the lack of access to affordable health care is a serious problem for rural Minnesotans — whether they are farmers, small business owners, students or workers. An example is in agriculture, where many farmers depend on a spouse with an off-farm job for coverage, and beginning farmers say health insurance is one of the biggest impediments to getting started.

We need a health care system in Minnesota in which everyone is in and no one is left out. Effective, efficient models for this kind of universal care are already in place in other countries and are widely popular. In Canada, for example, a recent national poll found 86 percent supported keeping their health care system public.

Now Minnesota has the opportunity to make health care more accessible and affordable. Under the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in 2010, states are empowered to provide their citizens access to a health benefit exchange, through which individuals and small businesses can look into health coverage options and compare health plans. One big benefit — the exchanges can help millions of low and middle-income families buy down their premium with public dollars, based upon their income.… Continue reading »

Keep The Teeth in Minnesota’s Interim Ordinance

In Big Stone County, where I live, a proposed aggregate quarry by a North Dakota-based corporation has united local residents around protecting the ancient granite outcrops that gave the county its name.

Strata Corp. applied for a conditional use permit at the county level just before Christmas, and though Strata’s own planning process has been six years in the making, citizen input was limited until the Planning & Zoning Commission’s initial public hearing on January 5th.

The room was packed with citizens who were reeling from what seemed to them like an incredibly fast process where there were many more questions than answers. Most residents had no idea the project was in the works until community members staged a grassroots organizing effort to take outreach into their own hands–writing letters to the commissioners and local papers, having one-on-one conversations with other residents, and collecting signatures on petitions in opposition to the project.

While the county’s permitting process continues despite growing opposition to the quarry from residents across the county and region, the Ortonville Township Board took action to protect residents in and around the proposed quarry site by passing an interim ordinance to place a moratorium on the project and to develop their own planning and zoning commission.… Continue reading »

Hypersensitive? Not in the slightest. Poll tax, reading tax, Voter ID bill. The Voter ID bill is Obama backlash, plain and simple. More first time voters went to the polls in the 2008 election than in any other election in the history of our country. Houston, we have a problem. America, we have a black president.

How can we prevent these others, these blacks, these college students, these immigrants, these minorities, these liberals, these disabled, these outsiders who don’t look like us or think like we think from voting again?

Let’s do what we always do. Let’s scare people into thinking we have a serious problem! In a state where voter fraud is zero percent this constitutional amendment makes no sense. Ask yourself who’s backing this bill and why? Follow the money to the Tea Party supporters and people who want to keep the status quo of what the typical American voter looks like today. Just because I can afford a car and have a driver’s license doesn’t give me any more right to vote than someone who doesn’t. A free ID you say? Who’s paying for it? I thought Republicans wanted to cut spending? I guess this is more important than things like education.… Continue reading »

This morning I stood at the Capitol with TakeAction Minnesota Executive Director Dan McGrath to draw the line between the 1% and conservative-introduced amendments that would make a photo ID a requirement to vote.  Taking a line from Dan’s comments – “the elderly, college students, the working poor and people of color – are those who will disproportionately suffer the most under a photo ID amendment.

I became involved with TakeAction Minnesota because I knew they had been working for more than 8 years to protect and expand voting participation in Minnesota.  Over the years, our work has been about removing barriers to voting and ensuring poll access for all law abiding voters.

TakeAction Minnesota believes that the more voices there are in the decision-making process of our government, the stronger our democracy is in meeting all the needs of ALL of our citizens.

I oppose the photo ID amendment.  I oppose it because I do not want to go back to the time of my great grandparents in Virginia who were denied the right to vote.  I do not want to live the life of my grandparents who would tell me stories of the subtle barriers and hardships they faced in Connecticut and New York, when all they wanted to do was have a voice in our country’s business. … Continue reading »

I am organizing a new economy for a long list of reasons.  In our current economy, thousands of motivated, hard-working people can’t find jobs.  Other are chained to their jobs, no matter how crummy, because of their employer-provided insurance they rely on because of have health issues. Some avoid going to the doctor because they can’t afford the co-pays.  Young people graduate from college to a job market that is not hiring as their student loans come crashing down on them.  Hardworking people — families with young children — are losing their homes through no fault of their own.  These are all stories I heard last night at a New Economy House Party. They make me angry and sad.

I have other, more personal reasons why I am organizing a new economy.  My sister, with ten years in her field and solid managerial experience, quit her job to get away from an insulting supervisor and a disfunctional organization.  After six months of looking for work, she had to go back to the same agency in a lower position.  I am an unemployed electrician with 12 years of experience, but there are so many construction workers out of work in Minnesota that it might be two or three years before I am able to find work.  … Continue reading »

The Affordable Care Act will expand health care to 300,000 Minnesotans – most of whom will find coverage through the state’s new “Health Benefits Exchange.”  Yesterday, the state’s “Exchange Task Force” met to adopt recommendations on several key issues related to the Exchange, including who should sit on the Exchange governing board.

TakeAction Minnesota has called for robust participation from consumers on the Exchange Board, and a strong “conflict of interest” standard that would bar the health insurance industry from serving on the Board.  Robust consumer participation is critical to ensure that the Exchange understands and responds to the diverse health care needs of Minnesotans.  Strong conflict of interest standards are needed to prevent those who will profit from the Exchange – particularly insurers from brokers – from gaining excessive influence.  TakeAction Minnesota has joined over a dozen other organizations in calling for these consumer protection provisions, and staff and leaders have testified at numerous Task Force meetings.  Minnesota cannot afford to allow the “fox to guard the hen house” on the state’s Health Exchange, as a new TakeAction video illustrates.

The final governance recommendations passed at yesterday’s meeting are a mixed bag for Minnesota consumers.  The Task Force recommended that consumers and small businesses together make up the majority of the Exchange Board membership, a strong provision supported by TakeAction Minnesota and other partners. … Continue reading »

The Legislative Session in Minnesota begins next week, and lawmakers are expected to quickly become embroiled in a set of fights that pit wealthy corporate special interests against the well-being of the 99% in Minnesota.  If recent remarks by conservative leaders prove to be true, attempts to place one or multiple constitutional amendments on the November ballot – all of which are designed to solidify economic and electoral power for the wealthiest Minnesotans – will be central to the conservative’s 1% Agenda for 2012.

Earlier this week conservative legislators introduced a Voter Suppression ballot initiative that would effectively cut out large swaths of the electorate by requiring an ID to vote, disproportionately elderly and people of color.  We are hearing more and more about an initiative that would make it more difficult to raise taxes in Minnesota, a move intended to protect a wildly inequitable tax structure in Minnesota that allows the wealthiest to pay the least, the poorest Minnesotans to pay the most, and some corporations to pay no taxes at all.

But whether the GOP leadership can achieve its 1% Agenda this session remains to be seen.  The message of Occupy Wall Street has swept the state and the country in recent months. … Continue reading »

Last week, Together For Health leader Ann Marie Metzger submitted these comments on the governance of the Health Insurance Exchange:

I would like to comment on the recommendations made with respect to the governance of the Health Insurance Exchange, specifically the recommendation with respect to the make up of the Governing Board.

As an individual consumer and private customer of one of Minnesota’s health insurance companies, I look forward to the full roll out of the Affordable Care Act and having access to Minnesota’s Exchange, giving me the power over my health care by offering choice and portability and more importantly the ability to dump my current plan.   This is unthinkable now.

As a consumer, I am not comfortable with any health insurance company having a seat on the Governing Board for the Exchange.  Minnesota would be better served with a Governing Board made up of a majority of consumers and small business employers and employee representatives.

While the Exchange is being crafted to allow consumers to have access to all the information they would need to make an informed decision on the purchase of a health insurance policy, and that is a good thing, I worry that the companies offering these plans will still use all the creative and innovative tools at their disposal to keep me from obtaining the health care I need. 

When I accepted an invitation to be a leader with TakeAction Minnesota’s Together for Health Campaign in the summer of 2008, I really underestimated what I was saying yes to and the possibilities to advance my vision for Minnesota.

Never was this more clear than the day I stood at the State Capitol with other TakeAction Minnesota members as Governor Dayton signed a bill to expand health care access to thousands of Minnesotans.  I choked back tears at the signing, thinking of all the work we had done – the meetings, trainings, phonebanks, actions, etc  –  to make the moment possible.    Thousands of people would have access to the health care they deserve.

I didn’t realize at the time that more than 11,000 of my neighbors were standing with me in that room.  I didn’t know that central to each meeting, action, and victory are thousands of Minnesotans across the state who are members of TakeAction Minnesota and contribute financially to make this work possible.

I now know that my story is tied to more than 11,000 other Minnesotans who make the work – and victories – of TakeAction Minnesota a reality.  Their faces aren’t at every meeting or action, but they are the critical fuel that advances progressive values in Minnesota.… Continue reading »

On December 21, I attended a meeting of the Health Insurance Exchange Advisory Task Force in St. Cloud.  The agenda consisted of reports from the Financing, Long-Term Governance and Navigators/Brokers working groups, followed by a brief time for public comment.

The Health Exchange and must be implemented by January, 2014.  Federal funding is available through the end of 2014, but after that, the Exchange must be self-sustaining.  The funding mechanism chosen needs to be fair and equitable — to consumers, not just the insurance companies offering their products on the exchange.  The Financing work group presented pros and cons of various options — see their presentation here.  One point that drew attention was the idea of financing the Exchange by selling naming rights or allowing ads on the website. Both these ideas received some raised eyebrows, and drew concern from TakeAction Minnesota Health Care Program Manager Sarah Greenfield during the public comment period.

The Governance work group was up next — presenting guidelines on how The Exchange should be governed and different governance possibilities.  For example, Minnesota’s Exchange could be a state government agency, or an independent non-profit, or a hybrid of the two.  See the full presentation here.  … Continue reading »

December is a busy month.  Between shoveling, shopping, and preparing for guests it’s easy to miss one of our great, overlooked annual traditions: it’s bank executive bonus season.  This year the holiday giving is especially meaningful.  Sustained unemployment and the rise of Occupy Wall Street have made extreme bonuses all the more troubling.  In fact, when you tally up recent Securities and Exchange Commission reports, the bonus and compensation pools of the seven largest U.S. banks are on track to grow 3.7% to a grand total of $156,000,000,000.

While jumbo-bonuses are on-their-face outrageous, they present a deeper problem: can our state and country afford to idle our money in the hands of the super-rich?  What we pay in bank bonuses is money that could be used to put people back to work.

Some of the problems of unemployment are obvious.  When someone loses their job, they lose income and health insurance.  They can’t pay their bills and may lose their home.  But other effects of unemployment are little harder to see.  Unemployment is the idling of talent.  Right now, somewhere in America, our next great social media innovator is out of work.   Right now, skilled caregivers are looking for work while seniors across Minnesota could use their help.… Continue reading »

While studying social justice and organizing at the University of Minnesota and through the HECUA Metro Urban Studies Program, I have become conscious that change cannot happen so long as a majority of people think the current status quo is working just fine, that it is fair and just.  The way the media talks about crime seriously contributes to people being content with the current criminal justice system.

I came into my internship with TakeAction Minnesota’s Justice 4 All program with the goal of keeping an open mind about racial justice and equality for people with criminal records.  I did not realize that I would become outraged at the injustice and barriers facing people just like you or I who have forever been turned into second-class citizens because of a past mistake.

Did you know that the United States has more people incarcerated than any other country in the world? U.S. Senator Jim Webb analyzes this situation quite well:

“Either we have the most evil people on earth living in the U.S., or we are doing something dramatically wrong in terms of how we approach the issue of criminal justice.” 

The U.S. approach to criminal justice is a serious problem that is far too often just accepted as a necessary reality.… Continue reading »

If you paused and listened to some of the participants at the Minnesota Health Care Exchange task force meetings, you might hear an occasional utterance about the very persons the Exchange will be serving.  For that, I am grateful.  However, there were times I reached the conclusion the reason for the task force meetings was to protect the health care system status quo.

I know, I know.  When you are dealing with such high level discussions (references made to flying at 50,000 feet several times during the meeting), it’s hard to see the little dots of needy people on the ground.   Case in point, at the last meeting held in Rochester, MN, they reviewed the output of the State Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Information Technology (IT) interface required to enroll the “little dots” in the exchange.  As I sat and listened and watched the presentation, I tried to imagine how some of my friends would manage through the health care selection process steps.  Certainly, IT professionals program at the level of knowledge above most of us, but it is incumbent upon the task force to give directions within the RFP that includes how the general population will be able to understand and maneuver through the maze of options. … Continue reading »

The second meeting of the Health Insurance Exchange Advisory Task Force was held November 17th in at the St. Paul River Center.  This group is charged with providing options in setting up a health insurance exchange for Minnesota as required by the federal Affordable Care Act.  TakeAction Minnesota’s Together For Health leaders have been attending the group’s meetings.  (See Ann Marie’s post from the first meeting.)

The meeting started with a presentation of Economic and Actuarial Modeling Results which was to show the impact of the Affordable Health Care Act on insurance markets in Minnesota.  Key findings of their study were:

• Almost 300,000 Minnesotans will gain insurance coverage
• Maintenance of Effort on MN Care and decisions regarding the Basic Health Plan)
• Household  budgets should improve by $500 to $700 per household
• Individual market enrollees should see a decline in premiums (after tax credits) of 20-25% on average.

During the second half of the meeting the critical issue of how the exchange will impact the disparity of health care services in the State of Minnesota was raised.  Several members of the task force expressed concern around how the exchange would impact the service of health care to those currently not covered as well as other groups such as minorities, legal immigrants and low income. … Continue reading »