Daily Digest: Processing the health plan
Good morning and welcome to Wednesday. Here's the Digest.
1. The U.S. House Republicans' health insurance replacement plan unveiled Monday has Minnesota health executives and policy makers scrambling to make sense of what it would mean for the state. Many observers in the state reacted cautiously Tuesday , noting that there’s a good chance this plan will never pass Congress, at least in its current form. “I would expect to see more changes before we really know how it affects Minnesotans,” said Jim Schowalter, chief executive of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans, a trade group for insurers. “I’m certainly worried that these changes are going to lead to fewer Minnesotans having insurance.” (Star Tribune)
2. A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis indicates residents in southern Minnesota and much of the western part of the state would see subsidies drop by one quarter to one half in 3 years. For 60-year-olds in some areas, federal assistance could drop $10,000 a year. In Morrison County, where nearly three out of four voters supported Donald Trump, a 40-year-old making $30,000 would see a drop in federal assistance of $540 — a 15 percent drop. By contrast, several Twin Cities counties which Hillary Clinton won would see their assistance levels rise. (MPR News)
3. Gov. Mark Dayton signed a bill to give liquor stores in Minnesota the option to open on Sundays beginning on July 2, 2017. The bill passed with bipartisan support 88-39 in the Minnesota House and 38-28 in the Minnesota Senate. “This new law reflects the desires of most people in Minnesota, who have made it clear to their legislators that they want to have this additional option,” Dayton said. Individual liquor stores will still be able to decide when they would like to operate, and local governments retain the ability to set liquor laws that could restrict the hours liquor stores are open. (MPR News)
3. Hundreds of people showed up in Bemidji Tuesday to oppose a proposed increase in crude oil flowing through a Minnesota pipeline. Enbridge Energy hopes to nearly double the volume of crude oil flowing through their existing Alberta Clipper pipeline, which runs from the Canadian border to Superior Wisconsin. They need a new presidential permit, which requires a new environmental impact statement and a series of public comment sessions. This sort of volume increase would not have been a big deal years ago, but since the Dakota Access pipeline protests, all pipeline issues have become more contentious. (MPR News)
4. U.S. Sen. Al Franken has relinquished $40,822 in donations from a Boston law firm under investigation by federal regulators for linking employee bonuses to campaign contributions. Franken’s office confirmed this week that the money, which Franken deposited to the U.S. Treasury, came from Thornton Law Firm. The admission came after the Federal Election Commission (FEC) sent Franken a letter asking him to identify the donors, which he did not initially do. (Star Tribune)
5. The Republican health care proposal is facing a backlash from some of the most conservative members of Congress. "It is a missed opportunity and a step in the wrong direction," said Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, one of three conservative senators who've criticized GOP leaders for not aggressively repealing Obama's law. He said it was unknown if the new bill would make health care more affordable. Conservative groups like Heritage Action for America and the Club for Growth also piled on. Club for Growth President David McIntosh called the measure a "warmed-over substitute for government-run health care." President Trump on the other hand praised the legislation, and his spokesman called it the plan the president ran on. (AP)
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