Lowering Health Care Costs

We all know the problems. Health insurance costs continue to skyrocket, making health care unaffordable for families, farmers and small business owners. Here in Minnesota, the state’s MNsure program has been plagued by huge cost overruns, delays, computer glitches, software mistakes and downright fraud in enrollment caused by out-of-control bureaucrats more interested in padding enrollment numbers than ensuring accuracy. With Obamacare and the so-called “Affordable Care Act,” it wasn’t supposed to be this way. What happened? In their quest for government run health care, Minnesota Democrats created MNsure instead of simply using the federal health insurance exchange. The result has been catastrophic, not only to those lucky enough to finally get enrolled properly, but also to taxpayers footing the bill for this boondoggle. Healthcare providers continue to abandon MNsure, premiums are increasing by as much as 67% and family budgets are being destroyed through sky high health care costs. My opponent, Sen. Kevin Dahle joined his DFL colleagues in supporting the full adoption of Obamacare[1] in Minnesota known as MNsure. Worse yet, Dahle voted against common sense amendments that would have prevented many of the problems that have plagued this failed government takeover of healthcare. I support the following healthcare reforms:

• Enact market-based, consumer driven changes to the health care market.
• Emphasize that industry competition will lead to lower health care costs, provide more choices, and provide better options for health care coverage.
• Utilize new business models for routine health care issues in an effort to drive health care costs lower while also encouraging preventative care.
• Remove burdensome red-tape and regulations, beginning with the abolishment of MNsure and the transition to a federal health insurance marketplace, like the vast majority of other states. We can do better. As your State Senator, I’ll work with like-minded Republicans and Democrats to fight to stop pouring money into the failed MNsure website, I’ll stop the payment of big bonuses for executives at MNsure, and I’ll support saving families $22 million over the next three years by reducing the tax on healthcare plans.