The Daily Digest: Premium problems
Good morning! Here are five politics stories to follow today.
1. About that premium...
Ongoing technical problems at MNsure mean thousands of Minnesotans have not received a single bill for their MinnesotaCare health coverage this year. The billing glitch has been resolved, and the Human Services Department has gone back to an old system to collect the money. In that sense, history is important to remember here: MinnesotaCare existed before MNsure was even a glimmer in the state's eye, and we were the only state to include it as a third tier of health care through our insurance marketplace. (MPR News)
2. Secret shopping.
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The state Office of Higher Education has been sending out "secret shoppers" to see whether colleges are dealing honestly with prospective students. It's part of a nationwide effort to crack down on the institutions, which, in some cases, make big promises about the career training they offer but only leave students with big debt. (MPR News)
3. No Rush.
Midnight was an informal deadline for a nuclear deal with Iran. But progress is stalled, and Secretary of State John Kerry says he's in no rush to finish a deal because he wants the best deal possible. (NPR via MPR News)
4. Intra-party squabble.
House Republican leaders pulled a bill from the chamber floor Thursday after Southern Republicans revolted over language in the legislation that would have banned the Confederate flag from federal cemeteries. It's yet another example of how divided the GOP remains: Just this week, a handful of vocal and increasingly powerful Republicans were just a few votes shy of defeating a major GOP education bill. (Politico)
5. $114 million.
Yeah, you read that right. It's how much Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush and his supporters raised in the first half of 2015. The figure places Bush far ahead of his competitors, and it underscores the power of super PACs. (The LA Times)