State republicans ignore warnings, drain health care reserves while cutting taxes for tobacco companies
(Minneapolis)—TakeAction Minnesota members gathered in front of state Republican Party offices today to highlight growing threats to health care for Minnesota families. Last week, state Republicans passed a state budget that ignores the federal reality. The repeal of the American Health Care Act (AHCA)—which passed the U.S. House of Representatives thanks to the decisive votes of Minnesota Representatives Emmer, Lewis, and Paulsen—promises to undo health care protections and end Medicaid as we know it. Instead of bracing for health care cuts, the Republican Legislature chose to drain Minnesota’s health care reserves while cutting taxes for the wealthy and tobacco companies.
“We’re out here because for many of us, health care is a matter of life and death,” said Teighlor McGee, a student at St. Kate’s University living with multiple chronic health conditions. “Millions of Americans stand to lose their health care—every one of them has a name and a story.”
The American Health Care Act passed by the U.S. House would cut over $800 billion from Medicaid, including over $2 billion per year to Minnesota, largely to pay for tax cuts to corporations and the wealthiest Americans.
Last week, the Congressional Budget Office released a new “score” of the American Health Care Act. It concluded that the bill would eliminate coverage for 23 million Americans by 2026. The AHCA would destabilize insurance markets, slash Medicaid funding, make individual coverage prohibitively expensive for older Americans and people with pre-existing conditions, and increase average premiums by 20% next year.
Jeanne Burns, a TakeAction Minnesota member, was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia in 1993. At the time, it was a fatal disease. But she’s alive and well today because of medication that costs $15,335 per month. “I reached my lifetime limit years ago. The ACA got rid of lifetime limits and it protects people like me from being denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions,” said Burns. “If the ACA goes away, I will have to bankrupt my family in order to qualify for public coverage—which is also under threat in these bills.”
The Center for American Progress estimated how many Minnesotans would lose coverage by 2026 based on the CBO’s projections: 123,400 on Medicaid, 59,500 with employer-sponsored insurance, and 68,500 in the individual market.
“The budgets passed by the Legislature do the same thing as TrumpCare: they threaten public health care to pay for massive tax cuts,” said Lindsey Port, a small business owner from Burnsville living with preexisting conditions. “Draining our state’s Health Care Access Fund while we face serious federal cuts is irresponsible. Minnesotans deserve better. Lives are at stake—we won’t stop fighting.”
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TakeAction Minnesota is a statewide, multi-racial people’s organization. We advance democracy and equity through organizing, political action, and policy campaigns.
