PNHP-Minnesota Chapter Updates

PNHP MINNESOTA HOME PAGE

2011-12-12T14:18:00.000-08:00

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Next meeting is February 20 , 2011 4-6pm

2011-02-21T07:17:00.000-08:00

Please join us in the lower level of the Strommen Building 2469 University Avenue, St Paul, MN 4-6 pm. Thank you.

PNPH letter to Governor Dayton

2011-02-20T07:56:00.000-08:00

February 8, 2011

Dear Governor Dayton,

We write to you representing the more than 600 Minnesota physicians of the Minnesota chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program. First, thank you for serving our state as governor. We were thrilled when you were elected! PNHP is a national non-profit research and education organization of physicians and healthcare providers who support a single-payer healthcare system, which we know you also favor. The single-payer option provides the means to efficiently and effectively cover all patients while restraining healthcare costs. However, today we write to you about a different, but related matter.

As physicians, we welcome the Medicaid expansion occurring in Minnesota, and we applaud your executive order bringing 95,000 more patients into the program. However, we are deeply concerned about the decision to disperse these enrollees into plans operated by private managed care insurers. At this time of severe state budget shortfall, prohibiting HMO participation in our public programs would provide a prime opportunity to increase efficiency and cut costs. While the HMOs claim their involvement will save the state money, there is absolutely no evidence to support this claim. Due to the lack of transparency surrounding how HMOs currently spend our public dollars administering state programs, we do not know how much privatization is costing the state. However, it is reasonable to assume that outsourcing Medicaid contracts to private insurers is a major cost driver, and its elimination will lead to savings and longer-term sustainability for the patients who need this coverage. At the federal level, there is clear evidence that allowing private insurers to administer Medicare (ie. the Medicare Advantage program) raises costs about 14% more than standard Medicare.

Just last month, the Star Tribune reported our state's 12 HMOs earned $103.1 million in net income in 2009 from their involvement in the three Minnesota health care programs. The same article stated the public programs provide more profit for HMOs than their commercial business! This information combined with the lower Medicaid reimbursement for providers provides indirect evidence of the waste involved in continuing to utilize this extra layer of bureaucracy. We firmly believe public dollars should be spent to benefit Minnesota patiaents who need healthcare, not to increase corporate profits.

We ask that you please enroll the 95,000 patients newly eligible for Medical Assistance directly through the Department of Human Services rather than through expensive contracts with insurance companies so that Minnesotans’ tax dollars will be spent on healthcare and not administrative waste. We see no benefit for our patients in doing otherwise. As physicians providing the day to day health care of Minnesota’s patients, we assure you the private insurance industry does not help us to diagnose, treat, or prevent illness. We would like to meet with you to discuss this issue further. Thank you in advance for your consideration of our request.

Respectfully,

Ann Settgast, MD (612-387-7914) and Elizabeth Frost, MD (612-724-3995)
Co-chairs of the Minnesota chapter of PNHP

cc: Ed Ehlinger, MD, MPH
Lucinda Jesson, JD

Fall Meeting this Thursday October 28

2010-10-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

The fall meeting will be at Elizabeth's house:

Please RSVP to PNHP Minnesota (pnhpminneaota@gmail.com) if you would like to come!

The meeting is from 7-9pm. A social dinner will be held prior!

Please call 612-724-3995 with questions.

A Fall of Action!

2010-09-02T21:20:00.001-07:00

Thanks to our interns, James Ortman and Kathy Mahan, we have many upcoming speaking opportunities this fall! Here is a summary. Please let us know if you would like to attend any of these. More information specific information to be e-mailed.

Sept 7 – Gamm with Senator Marty to Park Nicollet group, St Louis Park

Sept 10 – Mair, Schivone, Mahan at table at Medical Student Interest Fair, Minneapolis

Sept 14– Mair, Ortmann to dentist study group, St Paul

Sept 15 – Settgast at Rochester Senate District house party, Rochester

Sept 17 – Yablon to St. Joe’s Family Medicine residency, St Paul

Oct 22 -  Presentation at St. John's Family Medicine residency, St Paul

Oct 25 – Letts to United Family Medicine residency, St Paul

Nov 9 – Pentel to Smiley’s Clinic Family Medicine residency, Minnneapolis

PNHP Summer Educational Event August 11

2010-08-05T06:16:00.001-07:00

7-9 pm at 5433 Grand Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN. (612) 387-7914

Nationally recognized healthy policy expert, Kip Sullivan, will present on the evidence behind many 'fixes' of our healthcare system such as managed care, pay for performance and medical homes. He will discuss how they dominate the field of healthcare reform and sometimes serve as a barrier to single payer.

Joining us as a special guest will be Dr. Walter Tsou a leader in state reform in Pennsylvania. He will give us an update on the single payer movement in Pennsylvania, which we are looking forward to.

Please RSVP to the phone number above or e-mail pnhpminnesota@gmail.com

Lake Elmo House Party

2010-04-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

Dr. David Mair will be presenting the Case for Single Payer at a house party on May 17 in Lake Elmo. E-mail us at pnhpminnesota@gmail.com for more details.

April 29 - meet PNHP national president Dr. Oli Fein

2010-04-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

Please join us for a brief meeting and dinner with PNHP national president Dr. Oli Fein on April 29, 2010.

We will meet at Pizza Lucé in Downtown Minneapolis: 119 4th Street NorthMinneapolis, MN 55401(612) 333-7359

At 6:30 PM we will start a brief chapter update and at 7:00 PM we will be joined by Dr. Oliver Fein for dinner. Please join us!

All members and supporters are welcome, but please RSVP so we know how many to expect.

RSVP to pnhpminnesota@gmail.com

Successful Speaker Trainings held January 24 and April 10.

2010-03-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

On January 24, 2010 we held a successful speakers training. Attended by 16 physicians and providers we spent 4 hours reviewing the ins and outs of single payer, learning how to do slide show presentations, and led a very popular Q & A game which kept us on our toes. We then wrote up the answers to the questions of the game, which are posted below.

On April 10, 2010 we hosted another successful speakers training, this time joined by musician John Kolstad who brought a microphone and PA system and trained us on speaking techniques.

We again had the Q & A game, this time using the microphone! Thanks to all that joined us.

Questions and Answers on Minnesota Health Plan --State Single Payer

2010-03-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

Prepared by members of Physicians for a National Health Program-Minnesota, February 2010.

1. With single-payer everybody is forced to "buy" insurance in the form of taxes... how is an insurance mandate like President Obama proposes any different? A mandate to purchase insurance does not change the insurance product being bought. Therefore, the policies that currently exist which fail to supply adequate coverage would still be the offering. Single-payer removes the profit incentive in providing health care services. As it stands now, insurance companies profit when services are denied or those with pre-existing conditions and need for chronic care are dropped from their rolls. Forcing more people to buy a deficient insurance product does not assure improved health care access or quality.

2. Won't this raise my taxes? Opponents will say the MN Health Plan will drive up taxes. Keep in mind that health care is now one-sixth of the entire economy. Funding the MHP isn't like adding taxes to pay for a new government program or service. We are talking about restructuring how we finance one-sixth of our economy, most of which is and would remain in the private sector. We are simply shifting the premiums that people pay to their current health plan to the MN Health Plan. Likewise, employers would pay their share to the MN Health Plan. These premiums (or taxes) would replace all current premiums and out of pocket expenses for health care. Thus for most employers and patients, payments for healthcare would drop dramatically. Unlike regular taxes, these premiums do not go to the state treasury; they go directly to the MN Health Plan. They cannot be taken by the governor or legislature and cannot be used to balance the state budget or pay for anything else.

3. Why should I pay for care for people who don't take care of themselves (i.e. those who are obese or those who smoke)? Shouldn't they pay more? Before answering this question, one might ask about the current way this is handled. For example, should Blue Cross exclude smokers and overweight people from coverage now? (Ie. this problem is not unique to universal coverage.) One then should remember, that our taxes and our health insurance premiums already pay for health care for others. This occurs directly when the government covers federal, state, and municipal employees; funds the VA and military healthcare; and provides Medicare & Medicaid. Indirectly, government funds help support public universities, including medicals schools, and they fund a significant amount of medical research. Plus, a healthier population is cheaper to cover since risk determines premiums, and this risk is spread amongst payers in insurance pools. Therefore, those with poor health already may be priced out of the system given unaffordable premiums. They then obtain care through emergency rooms, which is incredibly expensive and a cost we all incur. All of these costs are higher in our fragmented multi-payer system. The best way to encourage people to take care of their own health is to get them in the system and provide the knowledge and tools to take care of themselves. If we shut them out of the system they will be less able to make positive changes. Single-payer financing is a fairer and more efficient way for us all to contribute.

4) Some fear that administrative savings under single payer will be eaten up by more medical procedures and higher charges for procedures. How do you respond? Physicians and hospitals will negotiate reimbursement rates for procedures and visits with the single health plan. As for MORE medical procedures, there may be more or less depending on what is medically necessary. In Japan they order more MRIs than us, and we could order more MRIs if we needed to. As we have seen by studies from the Lewin Group, complete health care could be extended to all people in a state; it could be improved; and we could still save money. The good thing about costs under single-payer is that they will be transparent and public.

5) Will I get to choose my doctor under the Minnesota Health Plan? Yes you will choose your doctor. You can keep the doctor you have now or choose any other doctor in the state if Minnesota. Under the Minnesota Health Plan there will be more choice of doctor and hospital than there is now.

6) How long would one need to live in Minnesota to qualify for the Minnesota Health Plan? Won't sick people move to our state just to receive health care? This is a good question. The bill states that it would be determined by the health board. They will probably decide on a length of time that is reasonable to live in Minnesota in order to be eligible for the Minnesota Health Plan. It is possible that sick people will move to Minnesota just to get health care, but it is also possible, and very likely, that businesses will move to Minnesota because health costs will be less for them. Right now many businesses move to Canada for this very reason. Minnesota will have a competitive edge.

7) What about ERISA? Doesn't it stand in the way of implementing a universal health care plan? ERISA is the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Passed in 1974, it stated that state governments could not interfere with benefits offered by large employers. Some say that states will be sued when implementing single payer because large employers will be forced to pay taxes to the Minnesota Health Plan which is a way of interfering with employer benefits. However, every employer will be obligated to pay into the health care system based on income and not based on the number of employees. Therefore health care is no longer a benefit, but a necessity. Employers can offer other benefits to employees to keep them on: vacations, life insurance, and retirement plans will still be benefits and according to ERISA, the government will not be able to interfere.

8) Will the MHP cover abortions? The MHP is not a bill designed to determine what medical procedures will be covered. For example, no where is it listed that colonoscopies are covered. It is a bill designed to build a system to make sure all Minnesotans have access to high-quality health care that is affordable and sustainable. It can be likened to a blueprint for a building, which tells you how to build the structure. The bill does not and should not list individual medical procedures, just as you would not write the wall paper colors or furniture into a building blueprint. The abortion coverage question has to be dealt with under separate legislation. As a point of information, Minnesota does currently have a state statue that requires state medical assistance programs to cover abortion.

9) What about all the people that come here from Canada for care? They don't seem happy with Canadian care! This is actually false. There are, in fact, very few people who come here for care. In bordering cities, like Detroit for example, the number of Canadians admitted to US health care facilities is less than 0.1% of total patients. Also, through a large population-based survey of Canadians it was found only 0.11% (or 20 of the 18,000 residents surveyed) had come to the U.S. specifically for the purpose of receiving medical care (Steven J. Katz et al., Health Affairs, May/June 2002).

10) You say that health care administration is 31% of the health care dollar - but then in the next breath you say insurance administration and profit is 15-20 %. Which is right? The part of administrative cost due to insurance overhead is only half the story on administrative costs. The other piece is the cost to the providers (doctors, hospitals, nursing homes etc) who must deal with the insurance industry. Each and every hospital and doctors' office must hire a large team just to deal with insurance record-keeping demands. In fact, AMA did a study which found that each primary care doctor had an average administrative burden of $68,000 per year directly as a result of the insurance industry.

11) You say you want to use Medicare as a model, but Medicare is going broke. What are you going to do about this? It is important to define what you mean when you say Medicare is “going broke”. Medicare Part A (the part paying for hospital care) is currently underfunded and is financed through a fixed payroll tax, while parts B& D are financed via general revenue. Imminent bankruptcy is not a concern for government programs financed by general revenues (eg. the Pentagon). As the US population ages, there will be an increase in demand for Medicare services and thus an increased funding need. This is not a crisis but a predictable occurrence that needs to be addressed by policy makers and health care planners. Adjustments in payroll taxes or funding from general revenues could address the projected shortfall. It is important to remember that Medicare covers the sickest and oldest of our population, and this percentage of the population is getting larger. Every insurance company has had to deal with rising medical costs, and Medicare is no exception. However, they do so with a 2% overhead. If the Medicare model was expanded to cover everyone, it would include younger and healthier individuals. Covering people when they are healthy, and keeping them that way, is much better care than treating them once they get sick (whether they have insurance or not). Certainly Medicare is not a perfect system and a Minnesota Health Plan would build on the parts of Medicare that work.

12)Would the Minnesota Health Plan cause companies and businesses to move to other states? Unlikely. In fact, companies and business would be relieved of the burden to provide healthcare to their employees, which is a major cost, especially to smaller companies. Minnesota would be a good place to start a business because health insurance would not be a concern.

13) Why not use tax subsides to help the uninsured buy insurance? This does not address the crux of the problem, which is the inefficiency of our fragmented, multipayer system in which 31% of spending is lost to administrative waste. Tax subsidies are a band-aid remedy and are a poorly disguised way for the government to pay money to the private insurance industry, while doing nothing to control costs or address the true problem. Moreover, even with tax subsidies, moderate- and lower-income individuals would be unable to afford good coverage, leaving them with modest benefits and high cost-sharing that would often make health care unaffordable. Instead of perpetuating our current inequities, tax policies should be used to create equity in contributions to a system in which everyone is assured access to comprehensive services. Distributing health resources according to human needs is possible only if we eliminate the private health plans and establish a publicly administered system.

14) Is the Minnesota Health Plan Socialized Medicine? No. Socialized medicine is a system in which doctors and hospitals work for and draw salaries from the government. Doctors in the Veterans Administration and the Armed Services are paid this way. The health systems in Great Britain and Spain are other examples. In most European countries, Canada, Australia and Japan they have socialized health insurance, not socialized medicine. The government pays for care that is delivered in the private (mostly not-for-profit) sector. This is similar to how Medicare works in this country. Doctors are in private practice and are paid on a fee-for-service basis from government funds. The government does not own or manage medical practices or hospitals. The term socialized medicine is often used to conjure up images of government bureaucratic interference in medical care. That does not describe what happens in countries with national health insurance where doctors and patients often have more clinical autonomy than in theU.S., where insurance bureaucrats attempt to direct care.

15) Aren’t malpractice lawsuits and defensive medicine the real problem? There are many factors that contribute to the excessive cost of health care in the U.S. It has been determined that cost associated with malpractice lawsuits, or litigation, contributes about 2-3% of total costs. So I don’t think we would call this “the real problem”. In some instances defensive medicine is a reality. For example, doctors may order tests or lab work in excess of what is really needed. This would be an example of what is labeled as "overuse" of medical and healthcare services. However, numerous studies show that “underuse” is much more of a problem and much more expensive. That is to say, compared to "overuse" it is much more of a problem that too many people do not receive the treatments and services they need. This causes minor illnesses to turn into much more complicated and costly serious illnesses. It is also important to remember that many malpractice suits today are motivated by patients' fear of getting no help or insufficient help with their medical bills in the future. Universal coverage will eliminate that incentive.

16) How many MN jobs will be lost if the MHP is enacted? If the Minnesota Health Plan is enacted there will unquestionably be some displacement of employees who currently work in the private health insurance industry. However, there will also be a number of opportunities created. Many of the current workers in the health insurance industry possess the skills and knowledge that will be required to operate a public program of health care administration. So for some, they will continue to perform the same or very similar job duties. Some displaced employees may end up working in other, similar insurance industry settings – such as automobile insurance, home owners insurance, etc. Many health insurance industry employees are qualified health care providers. This includes doctors and nurses. Hopefully some of these skilled and qualified providers will return to practice, especially in the many areas where we currently experience shortages such as in primary care. The Health Plan Board will have authority to offer incentives to encourage qualified providers to address areas of critical shortage. This will make a positive contribution. Finally, the MHP includes provisions for retraining and for other forms of assistance for displaced workers. At least for anyone who does lose his or her job and is not able to obtain new employment immediately, they won’t lose their access to comprehensive needed health care services. Everybody will have that, regardless of employment status.

17) Don’t medical advances require high costs in medicine? Certainly. As medical science advances and as we get better and better at meeting the health care needs within the population, some costs increase. But that is not the type of cost that the Minnesota Health Plan is focused on. The savings realized by the MHP will come from administrative streamlining and greatly reducing administrative waste and duplication. Currently almost one of every three dollars spent on health care goes to administrative costs. This is unaffordable and unnecessary. A number of health care delivery systems in the U.S. and in other countries show that quality comprehensive health care can be administered for much less. For example, the very popular Medicare program in the U.S. operates with administrative costs of 3% or less. In contrast, administrative costs associated with private health insurance vary, but are generally considered to average around 20%. In an overall health care system that consumes $2.5 trillion, the difference in these rates of administrative costs is in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Just by streamlining the administration of health care in a manner such as that proposed in the MHP we can recover enough wasted money to cover 100% of the population with 100% of their needed health care services. The Minnesota Health Plan doesn’t save by denying needed services, even though they might be costly. The plan saves by dramatically reducing the unnecessary but very expensive costs of inefficient administration.

18) The market is what promotes innovation. How can you promote innovation and technology advancement without the market? With a SP, the market is not taken out of health care. New medicines and technologies will be developed. When these new products are ready for the market, payment for them will happen through the state payment, not insurance companies. Many good medical inventions have come from countries that have a single national health plan.

19) Efficiency and cost reduction come from competition. How will a single payer system improve efficiency and improve itself if it has no competitiors? Currently, competition is aimed at trying to attract the healthiest people to a health plan. This competition leads to excluding people with health problems, and selling low cost plans that have high deductable and copays. This is very un-patient friendly competition. Also, under the current fee-for-service reimbursement, the incentive is for providers to do more services and thus be less efficient. And each hospital, wants to have the latest equipment so that it can "compete" with other hospitals. Under SP, since every person will have a health card, competition will be for the best care and best run clinic that can attract the most patients. This is patient-friendly competition. Furthermore, if competition really produced efficiency and cost reduction, our current system should be very efficient and low cost. However, we have just the opposite. Despite having multiple, competing payers, our system is the most expensive and least efficient in the world.

20) All insurers in Minnesota are already non-profit. Why should we change anything here? Only the HMOs in Minnesota are not-for-profit. For-profit insurance companies can sell policies in Minnesota. Both types of insurance spend much administrative money to design plans that have many levels of benefits and prices. With a SP, all this administrative money could be spent providing better care. And Minnesota medical groups could focus on providing better care, not better insurance.

21) People keep telling me that single payer is politically not feasible, that it is a good idea but not realistic. How do I respond? The best response is that single payer will be politically feasible when it is demanded by the majority. The political infeasibility argument stems in large part from the power and money driving the special interests (ie. insurance companies, who wish to keep health care as a commodity to be sold on the open market for profit and not as a basic human right for all citizens). In terms of feasibility, we firmly believe it is not possible to achieve and maintain universal coverage at the price at which health insurance is currently sold. Since single-payer is the only reform option that combines universal coverage with cost containment, it is the only option that will work. Currently, polls reveal that the majority of physicians (Annals of Internal Medicine survey April 1, 2008) and the majority of the public (multiple polls) favor single-payer. Having this voice speak louder than the special interests is the current challenge.

22) Stockholders are supposed to keep health insurance companies efficient. How could the MHP be efficient without them? Stockholders are interested in keeping costs down for insurance companies in order to obtain a higher return on their investment. Stockholders are not as interested as they should be in keeping the cost of premiums down for patients, as the higher the premium and the lower the payouts made for healthcare, the greater the return for stockholders. Furthermore, stockholder power is limited when it comes to cost control. No insurance company can unilaterally stop advertising or paying a sales force, stop underwriting, stop "managing" care, or stop paying lobbyists. They must do these things to retain market share. It is this type of spending that is grossly inefficient and has nothing to do with better health. All of these costs will completely disappear with a single-payer making it the most efficient system available. Furthormore, the MHP will not need a return on investment for stockholders. This lack of profit will spare even more of the money collected to be allocated for actual healthcare services. Under this scenario the cost of healthcare and the money spent by patients will decrease. Furthermore, care is provided much more efficiently during actual patient visits with physicians by decreasing the number of persons involved in the healthcare transaction. Doctors will no longer have to waste time obtaining “permission” from 100s of different insurers (each with its own onerous paperwork) to provide care they know is medically necessary to their patients.

23) How can we possibly keep costs down if everyone has access to comprehensive care? If you propose to insure the uninsured without a single-payer system, you are correct, costs will go up. But with a single-payer system, costs will actually drop. Before I explain, remember: every other industrialized nation has demonstrated that it's possible to cover all of their citizens and still have per capita health care costs far below ours. Here is what we could expect in the US under single-payer... Currently, our uninsured get somewhere between half and two-thirds of the services the insured get. That means that when the currently uninsured are given health insurance, costs to care for them will indeed rise. Those costs will be offset to some degree by the improved health of the formerly uninsured due to their better coverage. However, at the same time we insure everyone we will reap the savings that come inherently in a transition to single-payer. These are the savings that come from lower administrative costs in both the insurer and provider sector, lower hospital costs due to global budgeting, lower drug prices, and less fraud. These savings are greater than the cost of fully covering the uninsured leading to overall savings, despite everyone having access to comprehensive care.

24) Won’t single-payer just be another large bureaucracy? The US health care system is already a bureaucratic monstrosity when compared with other nations. This is illustrated by the fact that we spend 31 cents of each healthcare dollar administering our system. Other industrial nations with universal systems spend about half this (or less). For example, in the same study revealing our 31% administrative costs, Canada was found to spend 17% on administration. Therefore, single-payer (b/c it involves a single payer rather than multiple payers) is the best means we have of shrinking bureaucracy in our healthcare system. When everyone is covered with the same comprehensive benefits, the job of deciding who gets care and who doesn’t disappears. This administrative simplicity is much less expensive. Looked at from a different angle, consider the Wellpoint Health Insurance Company and the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (Woolhandler, et al, NEJM 2003). Each covered about 10 million enrollees, but Wellpoint employed 13,900 workers while the Ontario Health Plan employed only 1400. Or one could compare Aetna and Medicare in the early part of this decade. Medicare insured > 9,000 people per employee while Aetna insured only 458 (Sullivan, The Health Care Mess, 2006). The private insurance industry provides the best available examples of bloated bureaucracy within our current healthcare system.

25) You say Medicare is the model for single-payer. Aren’t Medicare’s costs increasing at a non-sustainable rate? Certainly, overall costs of the US healthcare system are increasing at a non-sustainable rate. Spending on medical care has been consuming a larger and larger share of the nation's economy for years, jumping from about 5% of the GDP in 1960 to nearly 14% in 2000. In 2009, it was 17.3%. By 2020, the number is expected to be 20%. However, despite covering the sickest and oldest among us, Medicare costs per capita are rising slower than the per capita costs of private insurance (see Boccutti and Moon in Health Affairs, 2003). Or, for a more recent quote, per capita Medicare costs for common benefits grew 4.9 percent between 1998 and 2008, against 7.1 percent for private insurers (NYT, 2/22/10). Much of the explanation for this lies in Medicare’s administrative spending which is a fraction of that of the other payers. While costs are increasing all around, the projected growth in Medicare spending is largely a result of growth in the beneficiary population (ie. more folks are getting older), not due to the failure of Medicare to control costs. And remember, while we watch the increases in Medicare spending, we simultaneously witness egregious increases in health insurance premiums (despite robust profits in the insurance industry). For example, the $13,375 average annual family premium in 2009 is 131% higher than the average family premium in 1999 (Employer Health Benefits 2009 Annual Survey of the Kaiser Family Foundation).

26) Won't enactment of the MHP lead to major physican shortages? No. There is no reason to think that ensuring universal access to health care would cause physician shortages. Remember that in the present system, people who lack health insurance still come to medical attention, but more often at times of crisis. Physicians currently care for the uninsured, but at later points in the progression of their diseases. Therefore, there are an adequate number of physicians available to take care of everyone under a single payer system. Moreover, by streamlining health care administration, the MHP will allow physicians to devote more time and energy to actual patient care rather than dealing with today's complex and often frustrating insurance infrastructure. In fact, the perverse incentives of today's system are decimating America's primary care workforce. MHP would incentivize physicians to pursue primary care specialties, which are the ones that are now most desperately needed. In response to the claim that physicians would choose to leave Minnesota to practice elsewhere if MHP were enacted, this is dubious. The majority of American physicians favor a single payer system by credible polling data, and Canada (with a single payer national health insurance system) actually is attracting more physicians from the US than vice versa over the last several years.

27) Why not HSAs (Health Savings Accounts)? The better question would be, "Why Health Savings Accounts?" An HSA is a useful tool for a person who has the money and resources to invest in it and who is generally healthy, with low need for medical intervention. If the holder of an HSA becomes ill and spends down their account, then they must fall back on another form of coverage or pay out of pocket. Either of these options is financially crippling, especially considering that an elderly person or someone with preexisting medical conditions would be forced to pay a much higher premium for catastrophic coverage than a healthy person. For low-income Americans, HSAs do not come close to addressing their need for health coverage. At least 17 million Americans do not even have a checking or savings account according to a CNN Money Poll in December, 2009; to believe that a more sophisticated financial instrument such as an HSA would be a viable insurance approach for the vast majority of the current uninsured, underinsured, or unemployed is foolhardy. Our health care system is broken and Health Savings Accounts will not fix it. Also, remember…HSAs will only address the 20% of spending incurred by the healthiest 80% of us. Those patients responsible for 80% of our health care expenditures (ie. patients with chronic illness) blow past their $2,000 deductibles early in the year and therefore have no incentive to "shop" and deny themselves services, which is what the HSA is designed to do.

28) How do we know it will work in Minnesota--isn't it just a theory? It is always legitimate to question how a bold proposal could be implemented. Fortunately, there is ample real-world evidence to reassure us that a single-payer health care system does work extremely well. Canada's system attains at least equivalent and often better health outcomes at a tiny fraction of the administrative overhead. Likewise, Great Britain and many other European nations are living, breathing role models of workable single payer systems. Within the United States, Medicare functions as a single payer system of health care for the elderly, and a popular and politically unassailable one at that. Finally, the Veterans Administration, a single payer health care system for military veterans that hosts a bustling medical complex in Minneapolis, consistently ranks at the top for health quality scores and patient satisfaction and delivers care at a much lower cost than private insurers because of its low overhead and its bargaining power. All of these examples demonstrate that single payer health care can work in Minnesota, certainly much better than our current system.

29) As a physician, how can I be confident that the MHP would reimburse me fairly? How can I be guaranteed to make a good salary? Again, Canada and Western Europe, as well as the socialized Veterans Administration system, are all instructive in this regard. Physicians make a good living in all current single-payer systems, and there is no reason to think the MHP would be the exception. Physicians will be at the table to negotiate reimbursements for office visits and procedures. While the average physician salary would likely remain similar under the MHP, there is potential for more equity in payment between primary care physicians and subspecialists. It is also important to remember that when today's doctors talk about their frustration with the system, they more often site the constant interference from an insurance bureaucrat rather than their inability to make enough money.

November 17 Meeting Minutes

2009-11-22T10:06:00.000-08:00

PNHP-MN Steering Committee Meeting
November 17, 2009
Strommen Building, St. Paul, Minnesota

1. Present: Laurel Gamm, Paul Pentel, Lindsay Byrnes, Diane Schadewald, Brian Yablon, Chirs Reif, Gillian Schivone, Elizabeth Frost, Ann Settgast, Kip Sullivan, Jim Letts

2. Upcoming events/announcements
a. U of M talk to first-year medical students, Wed Nov 18, 12:15pm, Moos Tower 1-450
b. “Hazardous to Your Health: A Series Investigating Equality and Access to Health Care” at Saint Catherine University; Jeanne d'Arc Auditorium, Whitby Hall
- Racial Disparities & Immigrant Barriers to Care – Wed Nov 18, 7pm
- Economics of Healthcare Reform – Wed Dec 9, 7pm
c. Single-payer network-building retreat hosted by UHCAN – Hospitality Place (20 minutes north of the Twin Cities). Sat Nov 21 – 9am to 6pm with sign-in /coffee/rolls at 8:30am
d. “Courageous Conversations About Health Care”, Tues Dec 1, 7 pm, White Bear Lake Unitarian Universalist Church; 328 Maple Street; Mahtomedi MN 55115 – Our member David Mair will be one of the speakers
e. Piece published in November issue of MN Medicine! 3. Discussion of national reform · PNHP's official position: "Tell the truth: the House bill will not work and is like giving aspirin to a patient with breast cancer". We need to "start from scratch" with Medicare for All. PNHP is not telling members of Congress how to vote on the legislation. Visit the PNHP website and click on “Capitol Hill Updates”.· We discussed the pros and cons of our chapter not urging a no vote on a bill that contains an insurance industry bailout, a tiny PO, and no Kucinich amendment. Kip urged us to at a minimum specify what we don’t like about this legislation in order to engage as many as possible in the realization that the current legislation is likely a “disaster in the making”. He raised his sincere concern re: pre-emption of state efforts, and specifically pointed out that an individual mandate may be the most damaging piece in this regard. Paul pointed out that it is a losing position to propose defeat of the legislation, but rather thinks we should focus on our concerns around pre-emption. · Elizabeth spoke with Dave Hage of the Strib today re: us publishing an op-ed and was given contacts for us to follow-up on. Gillian agreed to take the lead in drafting a piece which we can jointly edit. Jim suggested we start the piece positively by showcasing the good points of the bill, but then lay out the facts in order to educate the reader on why real reform is not accomplished with the legislation. Ultimately we should seek to distance ourselves from the current reform and make sure to avoid confusion that this is actually what single-payer advocates are calling for.· Please see the attached handout with thoughts or talking points on HR 3692· Senator Bernie Sanders will be introducing wording on the Senate side similar to the Kucinich amendment, and it is paramount that we work to support this. Our chapter will work with MUHCC & GMHCC to meet with Senators Franken & Klobuchar on this. To hear Senator Sander’s comments, please visit: http://aiss.enews.senate.gov/t/83494/4466220/2225/0/
4. Target legislator work for the MHP in the 2010 legislative session. We reviewed our list of 13 targeted legislators who sit on committees that will be hearing the MN bill this session. We have two legislators (Jim Vickerman and Julie Bunn) who represent districts in which we have no members. Several present at the meeting indicated they would be willing to do meetinss with these legislators. For those districts in which we do have members, assignments are as follows.
a. Laurel – will be arranging meetings with our members and Senators Ann Rest & Don Betzold
b. Kip – will be contacting our 8 members in Rep. Steve Simon’s district
b. Dave – is in the process of contacting members to meet with Reps. Paul Gardner and Kim Norton
c. Jim – is in the process of contacting members in Senator Katie Sieben’s district
d. Elizabeth – has already made progress on meeting with Rep. Kate Knuth and will be working on Reps. Leon Lillie and Larry Hosch
e. Ann – is in the process of contacting our 13 members in Rep. Tom Huntley’s district

5. Messaging regarding the MHP – Jim reviewed an event held at MUHCC executive director, Amy Lange’s house. We reviewed the video from the House committee hearing last session at which the bill was tabled. We are working to develop strategy to prepare good responses for opposition arguments against the MHP. Jim presented the example of discussion around rationing. Please see the attached document for his articulate response to this concern. Another way to address the concern is to point out that single-payer systems save money by eliminating administrative waste, NOT by denying care. Period.

6. Financial update – treasury: ~ $3000. No planned expenditures at present other than MUHCC annual dues of $250.

7. Outreach to pediatricians – Lyndsay volunteered to investigate possibilities for tabling or presenting to the MN chapter of the AAP. Jim pointed out that tabling this spring at the MAFP spring refresher was one of the best ways we have spent money in terms of adding signers to our resolution. Laurel will be organizing this again and will investigate further the possibility of a single-payer presentation at this meeting in 2010.

8. Website – we agreed to keep our site minimal as there is no need to duplicate the wealth of info present on the national site. However, ideas were suggested such as providing an easier link to the national site and adding a “next meeting” button on the front page. Elizabeth & Ann are updating the “About Us” statement on the home page.

9. Next meeting & speakers training – there is lot of interest in holding a 4-hour training to help prepare members to feel more comfortable presenting the single-payer case to audiences. We are tentatively looking at two Saturdays, 1/9 & 1/16. Please contact us with your interest in attending and your availability for either of these dates.

Meeting Notes Oct 7 2009

2009-11-03T20:04:00.001-08:00

PNHP-MN Steering Committee Meeting
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Strommen Building St. Paul

In attendance: Kip Sullivan, David Mair, Sarah Kesler, Elizabeth Frost, Ann Settgast

1. Member reports
a. David reported on his August appearance on a panel on health care disparities hosted by Representative Keith Ellison
b. David and Elizabeth reported on the meeting they had with Senator Franken’s staff; Ann reported on a meeting with Senator Klobuchar’s staff
c. Kip reported on his communication with Pastor Gwin Pratt of St Luke Presbyterian Church in Minnetonka. He will be speaking at the end of the month to their policy committee which plans to apply for a national grant ($2500) that would be used to hold a single-payer workshop.
d. September Mad As Hell event reviewed – turnout at the capitol was smaller than desired (likely due to the event time on a weekday), but event was successful; press coverage was excellent
i. We agreed to give the large signed poster requesting protection of the Kucinich amendment to Representative Ellison. Other legislators will receive a photo of the poster. The entire MN delegation will receive a letter from PNHP-MN requesting their assistance in protecting the amendment. Letter is attached.

2. Upcoming talks/events
a. Oct 8 – SD 53 healthcare forum (Rep. Paul Gardner’s district). Ellen Lafans has requested a doc attend to help her direct Q&A. Sarah volunteered.
b. Oct 10 – Elizabeth is presenting the case for single-payer to the Bush medical fellows at the Mpls Golf Club.
c. Oct 13 – David is the MD speaker at an event about the MN Health Plan in Mora from 5:30 to 7:30.
d. Oct 13 – Kip is speaking to a group of alternative healthcare providers at 7:30 pm at the Eagan Community Center at 1501Central Parkway, Eagan.
e. Oct 14 – Hazardous to your Health series at 7pm. Topic: racial disparities. Speakers will be Dr. Pat Rock (Indian Health Board) and state Representative Hayden. Flyer is attached.
f. Oct 14 – SD 53 is holding a house party for the MN Health Plan – Ellen Lafans has requested a doc attend from PNHP. David has volunteered.
g. Oct 15 – Glen Peterson is speaking at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Mankato at 6:30 and would like to have an MD co-present with him. Lynn Kelley is a maybe, and Sarah volunteered to attend.
h. Oct 24 – PNHP annual meeting in Boston – Susan Hasti and Gillian Schivone are attending the leadership training in addition to the annual mtg. Ann, Elizabeth, and Sarah will be attending the annual meeting. We will hold a Minnesota speakers’ training after the first of the year using Susan and Gillian’s expertise.
i. Oct 28 – Unity-building get-together 3:30-5:30 as f/u from the July workshop for MN groups involved in healthcare reform. David will represent PNHP-MN.
j. Oct 28 – Kip will be speaking at 9:30 am at the Depot in downtown Mpls to the Association of United Methodist Pension Officers.
k. Oct 31 - Mobilize for the Minnesota Health Plan Training; 10 a.m.- 3 p.m. (lunch included); Rochester Senior Center; 121 North Broadway; Rochester . This is a great opportunity to learn more about our state bill. Sign up on the MUHCC website.

3. Discussion surrounding our letter regarding the public option that was mailed in late July to the MN congressional delegation. In it we collaborated with other groups to outline minimum criteria for the PO. Unfortunately, these have not been supported strongly by our collaborators, and we discussed how to address the issue further. Kip will arrange a f/u meeting with Vic Rosenthal.

4. The following 13 state legislators have been identified by MUHCC as targets for upcoming committee hearings in the next session. Those who take responsibility for a district will call each member in the district to determine their level of interest in meeting with their legislator about the MHP. If needed, they will attend the meeting. They will also use the phone call to f/u on the MUHCC fundraising letter that was mailed last week.
a. SD 22 Senator Jim Vickerman – 0 docs
b. SD 45 Senator Ann Rest, New Hope – 3 docs (1 is Paul Pentel) – Laurel will take.
c. SD 51 Senator Don Betzold – 1 member – Laurel will take.
d. SD 57 Senator Katie Sieben, Newport – 6 members (5 are docs including Bill Spinelli, and 1 member is Eileen Weber, RN) – Jim will take.
e. HD 53A Rep. Paul Gardner, Shoreview – 1 doc (George Dawson, psychiatry) – Dave will take.
f. HD 56A Rep. Julie Bunn, Lake Elmo – 0 docs
g. HD 29B Rep. Kim Norton, Rochester – 2 docs (1 is Rick Kvam) – Dave will take.
h. HD 7A Rep. Tom Huntley, Duluth – 13 docs (several activists) – Ann will take.
i. HD 14B Rep. Larry Hosch – 1 doc – Elizabeth will take.
j. HD 39B Rep. Joe Atkins – 3 members (1 is a doc) – Elizabeth will take.
k. HD 44A Rep. Steve Simon – 8 docs (1 is Stuart Hanson) – Kip will take.
l. HD 50B Rep. Kate Knuth – 2 members (1 is a doc named John Salchert and the other is Barbara Qualley, RN) – Elizabeth will take.
m. HD 55A Rep. Leon Lillie (2 docs) – Elizabeth will take.

5. Next steering committee meeting will be held Thursday, November 12 at 7pm in the Strommen Building. Elizabeth proposed that going forward we open the SC meetings to all chapter members in order to give interested members further opportunity for involvement. All were in agreement. We will maintain the steering committee structure to use as needed for quick decisions via email, and the expectation will remain that SC members will attend the monthly meetings.

PNHP Steering Committee Meeting October 7, 2009

2009-10-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

PNHP-MN Steering Committee Meeting

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Strommen Building St. Paul

In attendance: Kip Sullivan, David Mair, Sarah Kesler, Elizabeth Frost, Ann Settgast

1.      Member reports

a.       David reported on his August appearance on a panel on health care disparities hosted by Representative Keith Ellison

b.      David and Elizabeth reported on the meeting they had with Senator Franken’s staff; Ann reported on a  meeting with Senator Klobuchar’s staff

c.       Kip reported on his communication with Pastor Gwin Pratt of St Luke Presbyterian Church in Minnetonka.  He will be speaking at the end of the month to

 their policy committee which plans to apply for a national grant ($2500) that would be used to hold a single-payer workshop.

d.      September Mad As Hell event reviewed – turnout at the capitol was smaller than desired (likely due to the event time on a weekday),

 but event was successful; press coverage was excellent

                                                               i.      We agreed to give the large signed poster requesting protection of the Kucinich amendment to Representative Ellison.  Other legislators will

receive a photo of the poster.  The entire MN delegation will receive a letter from PNHP-MN requesting their assistance in protecting the amendment.  Letter is attached.

2.      Upcoming talks/events

a.       Oct 8 – SD 53 healthcare forum (Rep. Paul Gardner’s district).  Ellen Lafans has requested a doc attend to help her direct Q&A.  Sarah volunteered.

b.      Oct 10 – Elizabeth is presenting the case for single-payer to the Bush medical fellows at the Mpls Golf Club.

c.       Oct 13 – David is the MD speaker at an event about the MN Health Plan in Mora from 5:30 to 7:30.

d.      Oct 13 – Kip is speaking to a group of alternative healthcare providers at 7:30 pm at the Eagan Community Center at 1501Central Parkway, Eagan.

e.       Oct 14 – Hazardous to your Health series at 7pm.  Topic: racial disparities.  Speakers will be Dr. Pat Rock (Indian Health Board) and

 state Representative Hayden.  Flyer is attached.

f.        Oct 14 – SD 53 is holding a house party for the MN Health Plan – Ellen Lafans has requested a doc attend from PNHP.  David has volunteered.

g.       Oct 15 – Glen Peterson is speaking at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Mankato at 6:30 and would like to have an MD co-present with him. 

Lynn Kelley is a maybe, and Sarah volunteered to attend.

h.       Oct 24 – PNHP annual meeting in Boston – Susan Hasti and Gillian Schivone are attending the leadership training in addition to the annual mtg.  

Ann, Elizabeth, and Sarah will be attending the annual meeting.  We will hold a Minnesota speakers’ training after the first of the year using Susan and Gillian’s expertise.

i.         Oct 28 – Unity-building get-together 3:30-5:30 as f/u from the July workshop for MN groups involved in healthcare reform.  David will represent PNHP-MN.

j.        Oct 28 – Kip will be speaking at 9:30 am at the Depot in downtown Mpls to the Association of United Methodist Pension Officers.

k.      Oct 31 - Mobilize for the Minnesota Health Plan Training; 10 a.m.- 3 p.m. (lunch included); Rochester Senior Center; 121 North Broadway; Rochester .

 This is a great opportunity to learn more about our state bill.  Sign up on the MUHCC website.

3.      Discussion surrounding our letter regarding the public option that was mailed in late July to the MN congressional delegation.

 In it we collaborated with other groups to outline minimum criteria for the PO.  Unfortunately, these have not been supported strongly by our collaborators, and we discussed how to address the issue further.  Kip will arrange a f/u meeting with Vic Rosenthal.

4.      The following 13 state legislators have been identified by MUHCC as targets for upcoming committee hearings in the next session.   Those who take responsibility for a district will call each member in the district to determine their level of interest in meeting with their legislator about the MHP.  If needed, they will attend the meeting.  They will also use the phone call to f/u on the MUHCC fundraising letter that was mailed last week.

a.       SD 22  Senator Jim Vickerman – 0 docs

b.      SD 45  Senator Ann Rest, New Hope – 3 docs (1 is Paul Pentel) – Laurel will take.

c.       SD 51  Senator Don Betzold – 1 member – Laurel will take.

d.      SD 57  Senator Katie Sieben, Newport – 6 members (5 are docs including Bill Spinelli, and 1 member is Eileen Weber, RN) – Jim will take.

e.       HD 53A Rep. Paul Gardner, Shoreview – 1 doc (George Dawson, psychiatry) – Dave will take.

f.        HD 56A Rep. Julie Bunn, Lake Elmo – 0 docs

g.       HD 29B Rep. Kim Norton, Rochester – 2 docs (1 is Rick Kvam) – Dave will take.

h.       HD 7A  Rep. Tom Huntley, Duluth – 13 docs (several activists) – Ann will take.

i.         HD 14B Rep. Larry Hosch – 1 doc – Elizabeth will take.

j.        HD 39B Rep. Joe Atkins – 3 members (1 is a doc) – Elizabeth will take.

k.      HD 44A Rep. Steve Simon – 8 docs (1 is Stuart Hanson) – Kip will take.

l.         HD 50B Rep. Kate Knuth – 2 members (1 is a doc named John Salchert and the other is Barbara Qualley, RN) – Elizabeth will take.

m.     HD 55A Rep. Leon Lillie (2 docs) – Elizabeth will take.

5.      Next steering committee meeting will be held Thursday, November 12 at 7pm in the Strommen Building.  Elizabeth proposed

 that going forward we open the SC meetings to all chapter members in order to give interested members further opportunity for

involvement.  All were in agreement.  We will maintain the steering committee structure to use as needed for quick decisions via email, and

the expectation will remain that SC members will attend the monthly meetings.

Mad as Hell Doctors are Coming to Town

2009-09-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

Mad as Hell Doctors TourWednesday, September 16.
Visit http://www.madashelldoctors.com/ for more information.

11 am – 1pm Mankato. St. John's Episcopal Church 302 Warren St, Mankato, MN.

3 pm – 5pm Rally and Town Hall St. Paul Capitol Rotunda

7pm - Dr. Paul Hochfield, one of the 'Mad as Hell Docs' will present at Hazardous to Your Health Series. Jeanne d'Arc Auditorium, Whitby Hall. St. Catherine University. 2004 Randolf Ave, St. Paul, MN

Next Chapter Meeting

2009-07-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

Our next whole chapter meeting will be held
Sunday August 30, 4-6 pm
Location TBD
Please mark your calendars.

Want e-mail updates? Please e-mail us at pnhpminnesota@gmail.com

Hazardous to Your Health! Rural Access to Care

2009-07-06T14:46:00.000-07:00

The third in a 7 part series.

Problems with Rural Access to Care

August 26, 7pm

Jeanne dÁrc Auditorium, Whitby Hall
St. Catherine Univeristy

click here for more information

JUNE EVENTS

2009-05-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

We are very happy to announce that the president of National PNHP, Dr. Oliver Fein, will be coming to the Twin Cities in June. He will be speaking at several grand rounds as well as our Gala Fundraiser. Below is our calendar of events. Hope to see you there!

Regions Hospital Internal Medicine/Emergency Medicine conference.
"National Health Insurance for the U.S.: Has Its Time Come?"
June 18 at 10 am in the 3rd floor auditorium.

University of Minnesota Internal Medicine Grand Rounds.
"National Health Insurance for the U.S.: Has Its Time Come?"
June 18 at noon in the Phillip-Wangensteen Building Rm 2-470

Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition and
Physicians for a National Health Plan -- Fundraiser GALA!
"The White House Health Care Summit and Its Aftermath"
June 18. University Club. 6:30 PM.
Please purchase tickets at http://www.muhcc.org/
Tickets $50.

HCMC Internal Medicine Grand Rounds.
"National Health Insurance for the U.S.: Has Its Time Come?"
June 19 at noon - Red Lower Level Conference Room (RL 110), HCMC

March 1 Meeting Minutes Abbreviated

2009-03-05T06:25:00.000-08:00

PNHP-Minnesota Chapter Meeting
March 1, 2009
Strommen Building, St. Paul, Minnesota

1. In attendance: Morrie Hodges, Gillian Schivone, Erica Weiss, Kip Sullivan, Amanda Rudelt, Jon White, Jennifer Hines, Sarah Kesler, Lynn Kelley, Dave Mair, Stuart Hanson, Jim Letts, Jack Garland, Kyle Mairose, Paul Pentel, Barbara Qualley, Ann Settgast, Elizabeth Frost

2. MN Medicine AD – will be published March 8
a. 204 current signers on our chapter resolution in support of HR 676
b. Goal of 500 by year’s end – takes 2 minutes @ www.pnhpminnsota.org – please commit to signing up ONE other person to DOUBLE the size of the list immediately!

3. State legislative update for the MN Health Act (SF 118/HF 135)
a. Successfully passed in 2 senate committee hearings earlier this year (Health and Commerce Committees) – Elizabeth and Ann reported
b. Informational hearing in the house (Health Committee) on 2/25/09 – Morrie and Lynn provided feedback about the event; bill was tabled for the next session (no vote taken).
c. PNHP members met with 13 targeted legislators through this process – THANK YOU – these efforts were fruitful and significant.

d. What is next?
i. Personal meetings with your state senator and representative are critically valuable in this process – MD opinions are highly valued – opinions of constituent MDs, even more so. Our goal for the next session should be to speak with all state legislators personally – please begin NOW by arranging a meeting with your legislator. Whether your senator and rep are already supportive or not, the meetings must be held. If already supportive, help provide your legislator with useful information he/she can use to make the case for the MHA when challenged.

ii. Goals of personal meetings with your legislators:
1. Share rationale of SP from a physician perspective
2. Educate re: MD support for SP – cite the Annals 4/08 survey and the MN Medicine 2/07 survey
3. Address questions/concerns of the legislator with your follow-up using evidence (www.pnhp.org)
4. Feel free to contact us before your meetings for background we may have on your particular legislator (eg. info from previous meetings) or for help in answering their questions.

4. Federal legislative update (HR 676) –
a. Eizabeth will draft a letter from our chapter to President Obama – we will send copies to MN’s 10 legislators in the US Congress.
b. Rep. Betty McCollum – Jon White agreed to write her to request a meeting. Jim Letts will write again. Gillian is also a constituent and would like to attend. Mark Thomas, PNHP member, will call. Once a meeting is set, we can recruit other PNHP members to accompany. i. Our goals with her:
1. Get a meeting! Ideal timing: Easter Recess April 6-17
2. Request she sign-on to HR 676
3. Request that SP advocates be present to testify at all upcoming hearings on national healthcare reform legislation
4. Sarah Kesler suggested writing an open letter if we do not receive a favorable response soon. This is a good idea. c. Rep. Tim Walz – has been receptive to our efforts, but has not co-signed HR 676. Lynn Kelley (along with Glen Peterson and Rick Kvam) will continue to work with him. d. Rep. Keith Ellison – co-signer on HR 676. We need to continue to thank him for his support. We will be meeting with him again in April. e. Rep. Jim Oberstar – has verbally pledged to co-sign in this session during our December meeting. We are still waiting his actual signature and are in active communication with his staffers in MN and DC.

5. Dr. Oliver Fein (PNHP President) visit to MN – we are aiming for June 18-20 a. Potential events
i. Grand Rounds at U of M – Paul Pentel has already preliminarily secured this venue for
Thursday, June 18 at noon
ii. Grand Rounds at ANW – Morrie Hodges will investigate this
possibility for Friday the 19th
iii. Sarah Kesler will arrange an HCMC event if ANW does not
come through
iv. We will also aim for an AMSA event with medical students during this visit – Gillian,
Kyle, and Erica can help with this. PNHP will provide food for any student event.
v. Next chapter-wide meeting/event will be scheduled in conjunction with the visit
vi. Media coverage will be very important

6. Miscellaneous –
a. Amanda Rudelt asked if our chapter is on Facebook yet. We are not. Sarah Kesler agreed to take on this project. Ann has sent her the logo.
b. Other medical professionals: Stuart Hanson inquired about other groups (eg. nurses, therapists, etc).
i. Brief discussion ensued re: nurse organizing around SP. Barbara Qualley provided some
feedback. The MN Nurse’s Association formally endorses the MHA, but has not made it
their central issue, unlike the CA Nurse’s Association.
c. Press releases – these often come from the national office and are very good. We need to make use of them. We revisited our press/media contact list. Currently Gillian, Jim, Elizabeth, Kip, Dave, Ann, Glen, and Susan H are assigned to contacts. We agreed from now going forward, that press releases will be promptly distributed by us to our respective contacts. Kip agreed to take on a couple unassigned contacts (the Rochester Post Bulletin and the St. Cloud Times. Elizabeth will send a reminder email when this happens.

7. Upcoming events
a. SD 38 health care forum (Eagan Community Center) 3/3/09 at 7pm – David Mair is speaking. Please attend in support.
b. Cable TV show called A Public Health Journal, hosted by Ed Ehlinger. Will feature the MHA 3/4/09 at 11:30am. Kip Sullivan may be available to be the guest.
c. SD 41 DFL convention (Edina) with Kip Sullivan 3/7/09 at 10am – Lynn Kelley volunteered to be the MD speaker.
d. Kip is speaking on 3/12 to SD 60 in Columbia Heights – would like an MD speaker. Ann is available if no one else is free.
e. MN Academy of Family Physicians Spring Refresher booth – April 16-17. Thank you to Laurel Gamm for arranging! This event will be attended by several hundred providers. We hope to garner many signatures.
i. Lynn Kelley, Susan Hasti, Jim Letts, Laurel Gamm, and Elizabeth will staff the booth
ii. If you are a family medicine doc reading these minutes and can help with staffing the
booth, please contact Elizabeth!! (pnhpminnesota@gmail.com) We want to have two
physicians present at all times.

8. Ideas for further speaking venues a. United Family Medicine Program – Jim Letts will follow up b. DFL speaker series in April/May – Elizabeth has this in the works w/ Anne Queenan

December Meeting Notes -Abbreviated

2008-12-24T22:47:00.000-08:00

PNHP-Minnesota Chapter Meeting
December 7, 2008
Strommen Building, St. Paul, Minnesota

1. Present: Caroline Toll, Elizabeth Frost, Barbara Qualley, David Mair, Laurel Gamm, Jack Garland, Mel Ny, Gillian Schivone, Kip Sullivan, Ann Settgast

2. Meetings with MN Congressmen on December 1 a. Tim Walz (MN’s first district) and his legislative aide met with PNHP members Jim Letts, Morry Hodges, Rick Kvam, Glen Peterson – no members were present to report on this meeting; we are told it went well, but did not result in a commitment by Congressman Walz to co-sign HR 676. He agrees to continue the dialogue. b. Jim Oberstar (MN’s eigth district) and his legislative aide David Boe graciously met with PNHP members Elizabeth Frost, Ann Settgast, Faris Keeling and Tim Burke for more than 2.5 hours. He was genuinely interested in the single-payer movement. He had concerns about the wording of a particular clause of HR 676 which he plans to discuss with the author (John Conyers). He agreed to become a co-signer of HR 676 in the next session.

3. Meeting with Congressman Keith Ellison on December 19 a. Elizabeth Frost, Kip Sullivan, Morry Hodges and Glen Peterson plan to attend this meeting. Please let us know if you would like to join. b. Agenda items will include expressing our gratitude to Congressman Ellison for his continued support of HR 676. Concerns re: the HCAN movement will also be shared. We will also ask his assistance in increasing support among MN’s other representatives (eg. Betty McCollum and Tim Walz).

4. HCAN and other proposals a. We reviewed the principles on their website – many of which are in keeping with ours. However, the coalition clearly calls for maintenance of a multi-payer system, which we do not believe is a sustainable or effective approach to healthcare reform.

5. MN Medicine ad a. We discussed ideas for how to re-design the ad to increase its effectiveness – goal in publishing it is to grow our signature list and shore up support for SP that we know already exists among MN physicians b. Ad will appear in the February issue; current resolution signatures: 186

6. Media update a. Elizabeth shared news of her recent Pioneer Press letter to the editor (published 11/23/08) and her recent piece in the Southside Pride b. Elizabeth was interviewed on the Community Suburban Channel on Nov 26 c. Ann & Elizabeth will be interviewed on Air America (AM 950) December 13 at 3:30 pm d. Barbara Qualley suggested investigating options for TV appearances (eg. WCCO “Fact or Fiction” spot)

7. State budget deficit and potential cuts to MA, GAMC, and MnCare a. We discussed PNHP’s response. These programs are currently serviced by 6 HMOs. Kip will write a letter directed to MN legislators recommending that rather than cutting these programs by deleting patients, that the HMOs be ousted instead and they return to being publicly administered.

8. Upcoming presentations a. Ann will be presenting to the physicians of the Smiley’s Family Practice program on 1/13/08 at 11:30 am b. United Family Practice residents have requested a SP speaker. Jim Letts is arranging this. c. Medical student lunch & learn is to be arranged by Gillian in February.

9. Upcoming events a. Stone Arch discussion group December 13 at 8am at 205 E. Hennepin Ave led by Senator Marty b. MHP (the Minnesota Health Plan) lobby day is January 5 in the Capitol Rotunda from 11am-1pm. There will be speakers including the bill’s author, Senator John Marty. Please attend. i. We are looking for physicians who are willing to meet with MN state legislators re: the MHP. The bill will be brought before at least 3 committees this legislative session, and physician and nursing support is very influential. These meetings can be arranged by MUHCC (the MN Universal Health Care Coalition) for January 5 or other days you are available. You would not be alone, but would be meeting with groups of constituents. You do not need to be an expert on the MHP. Please email us if you can help!! c. Elizabeth is hosting a "Health Care Community Discussion" at her home, December 19 at 7pm

10. Next Chapter Meeting: March 1, 2009 at 4pm

October Steering Committee Minutes - Abbreviated

2008-11-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

PNHP-MN Steering Committee Meeting Notes

October 29, 2008

Strommen Building, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Present: Elizabeth Frost, Jack Garland, Jim Letts, Mel Ny (guest), Gillian Schivone, Ann Settgast, Caroline Toll

Absent: Morry Hodges, Julie Hottinger, Sarah Kesler, Kip Sullivan

Jim Letts announced a health care reform presentation he is giving in Mankato, Thursday, November 6 at 7pm. He and state Senator John Marty will be the speakers. Event was organized by PNHP member Glen Peterson.
We announced the Legislative Kickoff and Training for the Minnesota Health Plan in St. Cloud on Saturday, November 8 at 10am.
Increasing signers on our resolution in support of HR 676 (currently ~ 170)

Calling party planned for November 25 at 6pm at Elizabeth’s house – there are 130 PNHP members in MN who are NOT yet listed as signers on the resolution.
MN Medicine ad opportunity – we agreed to place this in January or February .

Financial update

Jim reported our treasury balance.
MUHCC would like all member organizations to pay dues. Amount was agreed upon by consensus.

Media updates

Elizabeth has made contact with the Star Tribune & the Southside Pride Furthermore, she received an invitation to be interviewed on Dianna Longrie’s Community Suburban Channel on November 26. She is looking for a volunteer to appear with her.
Jim will be contacting the AP
Caroline volunteered to be our new contact for Lavender magazine since she is now writing a regular column for them.
Gillian has made contact with the Pioneer Press
Ann has made contact with KFAI radio, MinnPost, Minnesota Monitor, and the Twin Cities Daily Planet
Susan Hasti made contact with MPR
David Mair made contact with City Pages
Kip is in touch with AM 950
Glen Peterson is connecting with the Mankato Free Press

Website

Gillian suggested making the resolution and sign-up button more accessible from the home page.
Elizabeth suggested adding space for specialty and address to the signer screen
Jack offered to help further manage the website if Caitlin (our current designer) can meet with him and Elizabeth and share some of the details
Elizabeth will address these issues.

HCAN principles

These were shared with the group (from the website) and discussed at great length.

Meetings with legislators

Jim shared a reply letter he received from Betty McCollum regarding his request for a meeting.
Ann and Elizabeth are in the process of arranging a meeting with Keith Ellison – main topics will include the HCAN principles and his advice on ways to encourage his MN colleagues in the House to sign on to HR 676.
A meeting with Tim Walz is nearly set for December.
We have recently re-contacted Faris Keeling (PNHP member in Duluth) about his efforts in obtaining a meeting with Jim Oberstar.

Next chapter meeting: December 7, 4-6 pm at the Strommen Building.

September 7 Chapter Meeting Minutes

2008-09-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

PNHP-Minnesota Chapter Meeting Minutes

September 7, 2008

Strommen Building, St. Paul, MN

In attendance: Jim Letts, MD (family practice), Susan Hasti, MD (family practice), Jack Garland (retired, endocrinology), Kip Sullivan, JD, Donald Pine, MD (family practice), David Mair, MD (psychiatry), Julie Hottinger (pre-med student), Warren Kearney, MD (internal medicine/ER), Alison Warford, MD (family practice/adolescent medicine), Gillian Schivone, MD (medical student), Elizabeth Frost, MD (family practice), Ann Settgast, MD (internal medicine)

Media letter – thank you to Kip for drafting the letter and to Julie for compiling the media contact list. Those assigned have agreed to make their contacts via snail mail & email. They will then place follow-up phone calls emphasizing our role in representing the physician perspective in MN.

Contact volunteers are as follows:

i. Gillian – Pioneer Press & MN Daily

ii. Elizabeth (& Warren) – Star Tribune

iii. Jim – Associated Press

iv. Susan – Minnesota Public Radio

v. David – City Pages

vi. Ann – Minnesota Monitor, TC Daily Planet, Minnpost, KFAI radio

vii. Kip – Air America radio

viii. Elizabeth – Southside Pride, TPT-PBS (tv), Suburban Community Channel (tv)

ix. Unassigned (please let us know if you would be willing to be the contact!!) - Rochester Post Bulletin, St. Cloud Times, Mankato Free Press, Duluth, Fargo-Moorhead, Winona, St. Paul Legal Ledger, ECM Publishing, Sun Times, MN News Network

Enclosures: MN Physician ad & Contact List
Also, consider enclosing a press release or letter to the editor (see www.pnhp.org for the most recent press releases available) with your contact.

National Open Letter Campaign – last call! October issue of the New Yorker. It takes 2 minutes on the PNHP national website.

PNHP Annual Meeting & Leadership Training, San Diego, October 24-25

Announcements by members & future speaking engagements

Jim reported on his Grand Rounds given at HCMC psychiatry department
Ann reported on Grand Rounds given by Lisa Nilles to the pediatric department at the U of M.
Elizabeth attended a Grand Rounds given by Morry Hodges to the internal medicine department at the VA Medical Center.
Susan (chair of MUHCC, the MN Universal Health Care Coalition) updated us on the status of MHP (MN’s state single-payer bill). MUHCC’s singular goal is passage of the MHP. Lobbyists are hired again for this legislative session. She also introduced the idea of inviting Rocky White (Colorado) to speak to Republican legislators about his support of single-payer as a conservative. She reminded us that Senator Koering (Republican state senator) voted in favor of the MHP at the February Committee hearing.
Kip reported on on-going meetings between the Affordables coalition (Isaiah, SEIU, Take Action, etc) and the HCRC (single-payer caucus in the MN legislature)
Doug Pine presented to a group from the American Academy of Family Practice Physicians at a recent CME. The academy as a whole has not been supportive of single payer (unlike the ACP which endorses single-payer as one viable route to universal coverage). This leaves the opportunity for the family practitioners of our group work together in this arena.
David Mair reminded us that we can also invite national speakers (eg. Quentin Young) to events. He has experience with this from his time at the University of Iowa.
Warren Kearney brought up the issues of possible loss of tax-exempt status for HMOs. He also discussed some of his thoughts regarding why all physicians are not in favor of single-payer. He brought up some provocative questions, and expressed interest in reaching out to this group.
Alison will arrange a Grand Rounds at the University’s Family Practice program.
Jillian will arrange a medical student noon lecture with an invited PNHP speaker. She will obtain funds for food from the national office.
Morry Hodges (absent) is working on arranging Grand Rounds at U of M internal medicine.
Sarah Kesler (absent) will arrange Grand Rounds in medicine at HCMC.
Kip also mentioned the “Ethics and Health Care Reform” conference on 10/3/08 sponsored by Health Partners. Registration can be done at www.imehealthpartners.com.

Legislator meetings:

MN Representative Thissen – please visit www.healthcareformn.org and add make a comment urging Rep. Thissen to support single-payer
MN Senate majority leader Larry Pogemiller – Jack has met with him and will contact him re: additional meeting. We would like to clarify his stance on the Berglin-Huntley bills vs the MHP.
MN Senator Torres Ray – Elizabeth is meeting at 9am on 9/11/08. Kip reminded her to emphasize the need within the legislature for a united front among the HCRC (or single-payer caucus) against “business as usual”.
MN Representative Margaret Anderson Kelliher – Susan agreed to meet with her again.
MN Senator Linda Berglin – Elizabeth & Caroline met with her. Senator Berglin mentioned to Elizabeth that she voted for the MHP. Elizabeth will write a follow-up letter to clarify this information.
US Representative Tim Walz – Glen Peterson is working on arranging a meeting in early December. Jim Letts & Morrie Hodges would like to attend.
US Representative Betty McCollum – in a recent meeting with community single-payer activists, Rep. McCollum expressed concern that MN physicians did not support single-payer. This of course is not true. Jim has written her a letter requesting a meeting. Julie will also contact a staffer whom she knows.
US Representative Jim Oberstar – Faris Keeling in Duluth working on arranging a meeting.
US Representative Keith Ellison – Ann & Elizabeth are working on getting more information from him about how to get other members of MN’s delegation to sign on to HR 676.

Book “10 Excellent Reasons For National Health Care”

Please purchase on Amazon.com
Our chapter will receive 10 free copies – can use to distribute to legislators

Fundraising letter & upcoming mailing plans – the steering committee is in the final stages of revising a letter that will be sent to all PNHP members and supporters in MN to ask for funding for both our chapter and MUHCC.

A list of physicians identified as likely single-payer supporters was circulated. Several of these were known by our members and will be included in our mailing.

Alison knows physicians who she is sure would like to sign the resolution and become more involved. She will approach them.

Frontline PBS series (April 2008) & house parties

View yourself on line by going to the Frontline website
Alison informed us the DVD can be purchased on PBS.org
Request for patient stories from the series editor – let us know if you have them for the upcoming broadcast and we will put you in contact with her.
Couple Frontline with 2 short PNHP videos (found on PNHP website under “multimedia”: Video entries for "Where is my health card" - June 20, 2008)

Next chapter meeting date – Sunday, December 7, 4-6pm

Spring Meeting Minutes

2008-05-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

PNHP-Minnesota Chapter Meeting Notes
4/13/08

I. In attendance: Jim Letts, Becca Brackett, Morrison Hodges, Paul Pentel, Caroline Toll, Jim Hart, Jack Garland, Elizabeth Frost, Ann Settgast, Marissa Lightbourne (medical student), Titi Adegboyega (medical student), Rebecca Trotzky Sirr (medical student)

II. New PNHP-MN Chapter Website – It is live and open for visitors! Please peruse at www.pnhpminnesota.org or click on the MN icon on the national site. We welcome feedback and are very grateful to Caitlin Spinelli-Moore (daughter of member Bill Spinelli) for her wonderful work.

III. Current treasury balance: $ 2,593.50

IV. The Ad
a. We discussed the decision by the board of directors of MN Medicine to block publication of our ad. Two MMA members (publisher of MN Medicine) from our group, Becca Brackett and Caroline Toll, agreed to write letters of complaint. Please let us know what feed back you receive!
b. Plan to publish our ad (chapter resolution in favor of HR 676 and its signature list) in the MN Physician May issue instead
i. Design meeting at the MN Physician office 4/17/08. Let us know if you are interested in accompanying us to this.
ii. Signature update – please see attached signature list. May 1 is the deadline to add signers. Could everyone get JUST ONE MORE NAME?
iii. Can also sign up by going to the website and sending us an email.

V. Minnesota legislative update
a. The Minnesota Health Act, SF 2324 (single-payer bill by Senator John Marty) – heard by the Senate Health, Housing and Family Security Committee 2/18/08. PNHP-MN members Morry Hodges and Ann Settgast both testified. Large supportive crowd present with excellent reception. Passed 8-3 w/ bipartisan support. Has not gone onto further committees at this point.
b. Senator Berglin health care reform bill (SF 3099) and companion bill HF 3391 – both have passed through all committees and in the Senate & House and will now go to conference committee. Unfortunately, neither call for meaningful reform (ie. single-payer healthcare) and if enacted will add expense and could delay real change.

VI. General updates
a. Annals of Internal Medicine 4/1/08 survey results
b. Recent media coverage (MPR w/ Gary Eichten 2/5/08, press conference on SF 2324 2/11/08 , KFAI radio interview, Star Tribune editorials by Jack Garland and Elizabeth Frost 4/6/08)
c. Women in Medicine wine & cheese event, 4/11/08– Elizabeth and Ann both spoke. The audience was mainly first & second-year medical students. The enthusiasm of the group was inspiring! Several students expressed interest in forming ties w/ PNHP-MN and came to our meeting today! Thank you.
d. Open Letter to the Candidates Campaign – if you have not added your name on the national PNHP website, PLEASE DO SO NOW!! It takes 2 minutes.
e. Check out these opinion polls: http://www.pollingreport.com/health3.htm. They are a great resource for talking points.

VII. Upcoming events – please attend as many as you can to support each other!
a. April 16, 6-9pm - “Consumer Choice vs Single Payer” – Elizabeth Frost will be debating. Location Willey Hall room 125, U of M (campus map available by google).
b. April 20, 3pm Air America AM 950, “Of the People”radio series – we need 2-3 physicians. Jim Letts is tentatively speaking. Elizabeth Frost will email some of the members not present today to volunteer. If you are interested, please contact us.
c. April 22, 7pm DFL Links, Maplewood Library (3025 Southlawn Drive) – Ann Settgast is presenting
d. April 22 - Lake Country Progressives (DFL Links) Christos Restaurant,, Hwy 7, Minnetonka - Lisa Nilles will speak
e. April 24 - Progressives on the Prairie (DFL Links) Davanni's Pizza, 8061 Flying Cloud Drive, Eden Prairie - Lisa Nilles will speak
f. May 7 “Sicko” viewing and discussion at Mankato State University – Glen Peterson is organizing it. Elizabeth & I are driving down. Please carpool with us.
g. May 9-10 conference at the U of M, “The True Workings of Single Payer Health Systems: Lessons or Warnings for U.S. Reform” Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and Academic Health Center, University of Minnesota and Journal of Health Policy, Politics and Law – Kip Sullivan will be a discussant.
h. July 9 Pediatrics Grand Rounds w/Lisa Nilles & Glen Peterson
i. July 15 Psychiatry Grand Rounds at HCMC by Jim Letts
j. Caroline Toll introduced us to http://del.icio.us/ where you can bookmark interesting articles and share them. She has named them PNHPMN and her bookmarks can be viewed under “CarolineToll”

VIII. Steering Committee
a. 8 volunteers: Morrie Hodges, Julie Hottinger (in absentia), Jack Garland, Jim Letts, Paul Pentel, Caroline Toll, Elizabeth Frost, Ann Settgast. Please let us know if you were not present today, but are interested in being a SC member.
b. Will meet ~ monthly and be actively involved w/ chapter decision-making
c. Goal for decision-making will be consensus with voting if needed
d. One-year commitment
e. Proposed positions w/in the SC: secretary, medical student liason, treasurer (Jim), press advisor (Julie), outstate liason, and chair (Ann & Elizabeth)
f. Medical student liason: we would like to have a medical student fill this position. Titi and Marissa had to leave prior to this discussion. Elizabeth Frost will contact them and our other interested medical student parties.
g. Remaining chapter members will continue to meet quarterly, maintain email contact, and be as active as desired

IX. Meetings planned
a. US Rep. Jim Oberstar – Faris Keeling is arranging
b. US Rep. Tim Walz – Glen Peterson is arranging
c. US Rep. Betty McCollum – Jim Letts will arrange. Jim Hart would like to attend.
d. US Rep. Keith Ellison – Becca Brackett will arrange to discuss his views on the other MN legislators currently not signed on to HR 676
e. MN Senator Berglin – Caroline Toll will arrange
f. Morrie Hodges will be meeting w/ Ashwin Media (running for the US House seat from Minnesota’s 3rd district that will be vacated by Jim Ramstadt) to educate him on single-payer in the next month. Thank you Morrie! He will also gather information from his daughter (Minneapolis City Council member) regarding rationale of current HR 676 non-signers
g. Isaiah meeting – Jim Hart will provide the contact to arrange this
h. Chamber of Commerce mentioned as venue to pursue. Will contact Julie Hottinger about following this up.

X. First steering committee meeting: May 27, 2008, 7pm.
XI. Next chapter quarterly meeting will be in August – date TBA

PNHP Winter Meeting Minutes

2008-03-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

PNHP-Minnesota Chapter Winter Meeting Notes

1/20/08
Attendees: Dick Adair, Becca Brackett, Marianne Clinton-McCausland, Elizabeth Frost, Jack Garland, Maria Kaefer, Faith Kidder, Jim Letts, Paul Pentel, Ann Settgast, Bill Spinelli, Caroline Toll

Report on the PNHP Annual Meeting in Washington DC, November 2007

Ann & Elizabeth met w/ legislative assistants to Representatives Betty McCollum and Tim Walz while in DC. Both need follow-up visits in MN – neither are signed on to HR 676 at present. Keith Ellison is currently the only MN representative on the bill.

Jim Oberstar mentioned by Jim Letts as a possible target for another MN HR 676 signer in the House. Are you in his district? Would you like to meet with him and Elizabeth & Ann?

Please write a letter asking your representative to sign on!

Ann & Elizabeth attended the PNHP National meeting and the Leadership Training Institute the day before. We met many colleagues at the national level, and the weekend was educational and inspiring.

Chapter website – currently in production thanks to Caitlin Spinelli-Moore (daughter of Bill Spinelli). Preliminary version can be viewed at cspinellimoore.com/pnhpindex.html. Several changes coming before this goes live, but please give us your suggestions.
Results of December mailing – 50 replies from ~ 185

~ $2600 collected to begin our chapter fund! Chapter checking account has been opened, and thank you notes are nearly complete.

Jim Letts volunteered to be the chapter treasurer. THANK YOU.

HR 676 Resolution signatures

Currently ~ 110 signers – we all agreed we can get more. If even 10 of us fill our sheet, this would double the number. Please help! A new sheet and resolution are attached along with the list of current signers.

We reviewed the names of the signers and agreed that this list should be used as a tool in our future endeavors to reach a goal of 500 signatures in the next 6 months (Maria Kaefer).
Discussed best places to publish an ad: eg. MN Medicine, Metro Doctors or MN Physician magazines given high cost of Star Trib and Pioneer Press space. Paul Pentel will contact the MMA regarding advice on the best way to reach the most MDs with an ad (this ad would contain a link to the website for additional signers to join the list).
Idea of additional mass mailing (to include list of current names as an enclosure) with the following possible target groups suggested:

MMA – Paul Pentel will investigate possibility of getting a list.
MN licensing board – Maria Kaefer will investigate same.
ACP – This list may be quite useful given recent ACP position paper in the 1/1/08 issue (which could be referenced in a mailing to its MN members). Ann Settgast will investigate possibility of getting this list.
Physicians who have contributed to various campaigns sympathetic to single-payer – Jim Letts will look into such a list.

Minnesota Health Act (state single-payer bill or MHA)

New MN state legislative session begins 2/12/08

Elizabeth introduced Governor Pawlenty’s Health Care Access Commission and the Recommendations of his Transformation Task Force which will become public any time – she alerted us to an analysis of these recommendations written by Kip Sullivan which help to explain them and their weaknesses – attached.
The bill was discussed at length by the members with good points brought by all. Elizabeth reviewed key features of a single-payer proposal (as outlined by the national PNHP office). She acknowledged strengths of the current state bill – eg. item 21.8 which prohibits health plans being sold that provide the same services as the MN Health Plan.
Regarding PNHP-MN endorsement of the bill…most were in favor of endorsement, but there were concerns brought forward:

Concern that we are endorsing a bill with little likelihood of passage which may make us appear less mainstream
Concern that the timing of this bill should come after the Constitutional amendment passes declaring health care as a right and once there is recognition that the only way to achieve this goal is single-payer.
Concern regarding taking away Medicare from Minnesotans

Consensus reached in favor of endorsement given the positive impact of being unified w/ other single-payer advocacy groups and the potential for using the bill as an educational tool and conversation point.
We agreed that as a chapter of PNHP (N being for national) our focus should remain mostly on attainment of a national single-payer system, with acknowledgement that endorsing the MHA in no way negates this.

News & events

ACP endorsement of single payer national health insurance as "one pathway" to universal coverage, 12/07 (Annals 1/1/08 issue)

Air America’s “Of the People” interview /call-in show Sunday afternoons, 3-4 PM (AM 950) - series regarding single-payer and the MHCA as the solution to the health coverage crisis– first episode 1/6/08. More to come.

Caucuses 2/5/08 – MUHCC caucus resolution in favor of single-payer discussed and its use encouraged by all PNHP members at their own caucuses – we need to help get resolutions passed in as many precincts as possible!

Road show and Rally for MHA 2/6/08-2/11/08 by the MN Health Reform Caucus (group of MN DFL legislators) press conference with rally 2/11/08 at 11:15am at the State Office Building, 100 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, in support of the MHA. Please attend and wear garb identifying you as an MD in order to capitalize on “earned media” (ie, being approached to speak to media w/o arranging it yourself).

Rotary clubs – speaking engagement arrangements in progress. Morry Hodges spoke to the Minneapolis South club on 1/17/08.

Important dates

Speakers training – date to be determined. Will be a Sunday afternoon in March.

Next chapter meeting will be Sunday April 13, 2008 from 4-6pm.