Title
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE MINNESOTA HEALTH PLAN AND FEDERAL MEDICARE FOR ALL ACT.
Body
BY COUNCILOR RANDORF AND COUNCILOR SIPRESS:
WHEREAS, the system of private health insurance in the United States creates financial and bureaucratic barriers that prevent individuals from obtaining needed medical care, drives up the overall costs of health care at unsustainable rates, and saddles individuals, businesses, and local government with unsustainable health care costs; and
WHEREAS, a 2021 survey found that more than one-quarter of Minnesotans struggled to pay their medical bills and nearly half delayed or skipped needed medical care due to concerns about cost; and
WHEREAS, at the current rate of growth Minnesota's total health care spending will double from $47.1 billion to $94 billion in 10 years to be 19 percent of our state economy, more than housing and transportation; and
WHEREAS, healthcare expenses for city of Duluth employees have been increasing at an unsustainable annual rate of 10 percent putting upward pressure on local property taxes and threatening the financial stability of the city; and
WHEREAS, Minnesota employers' health insurance costs are increasing at a faster rate than the national average; and
WHEREAS, a well-designed and efficient universal public health finance system would guarantee all Minnesotans high quality health care regardless of employment status, would reduce the complexity and bureaucracy of our health-care system, and would provide significant financial savings to individuals, businesses, and local government; and
WHEREAS, the Minnesota Health Plan (S.F. 1643) would create a universal public health finance system that will contain costs and save money and provide high quality, comprehensive health care for every Minnesotan, while relieving both public and private employers of the burden of providing health care benefits; and
WHEREAS, the federal Medicare for All Act of 2021 (H.R. 1976) would create a similar sys...
Click here for full text