Minnesota scores bragging rights on Obamacare

[Jesus Malverde]

When Minnesota state lawmaker Joe Atkins hunkered down to draft legislation outlining the way Minnesota would implement the Affordable Care Act, he had no idea the results would be so dramatic.

The Gopher State is now enrolling individuals through its health-insurance exchange by the thousands and at health insurance premium rates that are among the lowest in the country.

Next door in Wisconsin, the numbers of Obamacare enrollees have barely hit the hundreds and premium rates are between 25 and 35 percent higher than in Minnesota.

“I wish that wasn’t the case, but I’m sure glad,” says Atkins, who lives near the Twin Cities and is a member of Minnesota’s Democratic Farm Labor Party, a political organization that traces its roots back to Hubert H. Humphrey and supports the ideals of the U.S. Democratic Party. “Folks are thinking I’m pretty smart right now.”

Minnesotans and Wisconsinites share a long-standing rivalry — in politics, business, and, of course, on the football field. But the new federal health law has opened another front in the competition. And so far, Minnesota is winning.

http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/article/20131109/SPJ0197/311090111/Minnesota-scores-bragging-rights-on-Obamacare

In Minnesota, regulators forced insurers in several cases to resubmit lower rates because they questioned the justifications. In Wisconsin, regulators took a more hands-off approach and let all the rates go through as-is after reviewing carriers’ justifications.

[chillfactor]

1. As a native Minnesotan....

now retired in New Mexico..I applaud my home state......

[krispos42]

2. But... but.. only six people have signed up!

Go Minnesota. I liked living there. It was nice being able to see the sun in the wintertime, even if it was cold.

Unlike here.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Democratic legislature and Democratic governor.

Yay for us!

[Jesus Malverde]

4. The fundamental difference between the two states

“The fundamental difference between the two states, which are similar geographically and demographically and have very similar underlying medical costs, is that Minnesota has embraced the national health care reform law and is using the tools it provides to deliver more affordable health insurance, while the Walker administration has tried to undermine the law at every turn,” Citizen Action CEO Robert Kraig and researcher Kevin Kane wrote in a scathing op-ed recently published in The Capital Times of Madison.

[HereSince1628]

6. Trouble is the Cap Times sings to the choir...

If such a piece made the Journal Sentinel/Freeman out in Waukesha, that would inform some folks.

[Drale]

5. The problems with the Federal Site are 100% the Republicans fault

if they had just created their own exchanges like they were supposed to, there wouldn't even be a Federal Site to get fucked up.

[Roland99]

7. That article highlights the biggest problem I have w/the ACA in its current form...

that premiums vary wildly from state to state, and even from county to county within the same state.

To me, that is wholly unfair.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

8. Remember the "poisoned pills" that were put in the law in order to pass it.

When Social Security was enacted it took several alterations from Congress to make it work as one of his nation's greatest achievements for protection against poverty. But now, the goal isn't to fix "Obamacare" but to break it completely. And it's becoming clearer to more people that this is the case.

Maybe "Getting Rid of Republican Poisoned Pills from the National Health Care Law" should be high on the list of referendums for 2014.