BEMIDJI -- Over the past few weeks, I've received several letters from people having a hard time signing up for health insurance on MNsure, Minnesota's health insurance marketplace.
MNsure has had some problems along the way since opening for business on Oct. 1, and Gov. Mark Dayton rightfully is holding the responsible MNsure contractors accountable. Let's not allow those issues to overshadow the reason for MNsure's online insurance marketplace.
The rising cost of health care and health insurance coverage is not a new problem. In part to address the cost of treating the uninsured, Congress -- including Democrats in the House and Republicans in the Senate -- passed the Emergency Medical Treatment Act in 1986.
This act requires hospitals to treat any patient who walks through their doors, regardless of whether they can pay for that treatment. It was a bipartisan act signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, and it ensured all Americans the emergency room medical treatment they needed.
Despite the claims made in some recent alarmist columns, the EMT Act continues to ensure that all Americans who need emergency medical care can get it. The problem is, emergency medical care is the most expensive kind. The price of providing uninsured Americans with emergency medical treatment has contributed to increased costs for both routine medical procedures and health insurance premiums.
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As a way to lessen those costs, the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010. Among other things, the ACA provides that people no longer can be denied coverage due to preexisting conditions, companies no longer can cap lifetime benefits and federal subsidies are available to help working families pay for health insurance.
The ACA also requires online marketplaces where people can shop for health insurance plans offered by private companies. Customers can compare plans and find the best one for their families at the right price.
States are required to either use the federal marketplace or create one for themselves.
Through 2011 and 2012, Minnesota's Republican-led Legislature did not create a Minnesota marketplace, choosing instead to use a marketplace run by the people in Washington. In 2013, the new Legislature decided it made much more sense to have a marketplace managed right here in Minnesota, where we've always been leaders in health care.
That way, when problems come up, we can handle them ourselves.
So here we are, addressing problems with MNsure and doing our best to make sure that every Minnesotan has access to quality health care. That means striving for goals of providing more preventative care, less high cost emergency room care and lower health care costs for all Minnesotans.
I think those are goals worth fighting for, and that's what I intend to do.
Rep. Persell, DFL-Bemidji, is majority whip of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
