Daily Digest: Still no clarity on health care

Good morning, and happy Thursday. Here's the Digest.

1. Gov. Mark Dayton said Wednesday that his inability to reach federal Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price on the phone to talk about health care is unlike anything he’s ever experienced. Minnesota lawmakers passed a $542 million financial safety net for insurance companies last session that was aimed at stabilizing the state’s individual health insurance market. But the plan, known as reinsurance, is dependent on the federal government’s permission in the form of a waiver that has not yet been approved. And Dayton said he’s not getting any answers. “I can’t even get the secretary of health and human services on the telephone. I can’t even get a phone number to call him to raise the issue.” Republicans also urged the Trump Administration to approve the waiver. (MPR News)

2. Dayton and Republican legislative leaders are set to begin court-ordered mediation aimed at resolving their budget impasse. Mediation sessions will be held today and tomorrow. The two sides agreed last week to hire retired Hennepin County Judge Rick Solum to mediate the dispute. Chief Justice Lorie Gildea wants a progress report on mediation by the end of the month. The governor and Legislature will split the cost of mediation. Solum is charging $257 per hour, which is half his commercial rate. (MPR News)

3. A St. Cloud couple will not be able to refuse wedding video services for same-sex couples after a federal judge on Wednesday dismissed their lawsuit challenging Minnesota’s human rights laws. In a 63-page ruling Wednesday, Chief U.S. District Judge John Tunheim wrote that a provision of the Minnesota Human Rights Act prohibiting discrimination by businesses was not unconstitutional and rejected the couple’s argument that the law amounted to “a state effort to stamp out expression opposing same-sex marriage.” Carl and Angel Larsen sued the state’s commissioner of human rights and attorney general in December in an pre-emptive effort to avoid penalties for turning away same-sex customers. The Larsens, who use their Telescope Media Group to promote their Christian beliefs, want to break into the wedding film business, but only to serve heterosexual couples. (Star Tribune)

4. Babies born to African American women in Minnesota are more than twice as likely to die as infants than babies born to white women. The state, as well as the nation, has grappled with improving the birth outcomes for African American babies for decades. One puzzling thread of research shows that the gap in infant mortality persists regardless of the mother's education levels. In Minnesota, babies born to black moms with college degrees have roughly the same risk of dying as infants as babies born to white women who dropped out of high school, according to health department officials. One emerging theory might explain why: Black women experience more stress, and that can have a weathering effect on their bodies. (MPR News)

5. Several staffers have left Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges’ campaign less than two months before the election, the second campaign shake-up in six months for the incumbent. “We have had several staff leave who came on early in the process, and we’re happy that they stayed through the summer,” the Hodges campaign said in a statement. “We’re grateful for all the work they did for the campaign. Now we’re in the home stretch, we are fully-staffed, and we have the experienced team in place that will lead us to victory.” City Pages, citing anonymous sources, reported Wednesday that a “half-dozen” staffers on Hodges’ campaign had resigned. (Star Tribune)

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