Adding Minnesotans to "the largest consolidation of personal data in the history of the republic" USA TODAY
MN Health Insurance Exchange Realities
Issues
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February 21, 2013
The public will have no say over federal control of health insurance and medical care if the Minnesota Healthcare Exchange legislation (SF1/HF5) passes in its present form. The Exchange Board will be exempt from all the requirements that protect the public from runaway rulemaking.
Issues
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February 12, 2013
Many health insurance agents fear the loss of their livelihood once government health insurance Exchanges are created and people begin to shop online. But Exchanges will not be simple. Thus, Obamacare established a new entity called “navigators” to assist individuals and businesses in buying coverage from federally-qualified health plans on the exchange. Health insurance agents will be only one of many groups allowed to become navigators.
Issues
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February 07, 2013
Among the far-reaching powers granted to the seven-member MN Health Insurance Exchange board in the proposed legislation is the power to choose what health insurance plans you, the consumer who may be forced to buy insurance on the Exchange, are allowed to purchase.
Issues
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February 05, 2013
The Minnesota Insurance Exchange legislation specifically defines the “Minnesota Insurance Marketplace” as a Board. This board would be a defacto state agency, signing IT contracts, accepting state appropriations, having a dedicated state account, overseeing health care across the state of Minnesota, and choosing what insurance options are available on the exchange.
Issues
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January 31, 2013
Buried in the text of the Minnesota Obamacare Exchange bill (MNHIX) has a tiny but controversial section allowing free-flow sharing of all data the government has on you. It also grants them access to the date “other entities” have on you. There is no limit to the agencies that can share data. There is no limit to the data that can be shared. There is no limit with whom the data may be shared.
Issues
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January 29, 2013
Although language for a "federal" health insurance exchange exists in Obama's reform law, it's essentially a bluff. The federal government never intended to create it. They don't want to create it. They didn't even give themselves money to create it.
Issues
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February 21, 2013
The public will have no say over federal control of health insurance and medical care if the Minnesota Healthcare Exchange legislation (SF1/HF5) passes in its present form. The Exchange Board will be exempt from all the requirements that protect the public from runaway rulemaking.
Issues
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January 25, 2013
The Minnesota Health Insurance Exchange (MNHIX) has been compared to Travelocity. Proponents have called it a “marketplace.” However, one look at the diagram below – created by reading the State’s detailed contract with Maximus, Inc, which is building the Exchange -- makes it clear that this is not Travelocity. This is a government bureaucracy. It’s big. It’s intrusive. And it’s a state agency under federal control. The contract even calls it the “federal MNHIX.”
Issues
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January 22, 2013
The “Minnesota Insurance Marketplace” in Senate File 1/House File 5 is not competitive, limits citizens’ choice of health insurance options, expands government dependency (premium subsidies for middle class/Medicaid expansion), is managed by unelected state workers, is under federal control (law/regulations), and operates through the online transfer of vast quantities of personal data on individuals from state and federal government.
Reality #8 – Public Locked Out of Exchange Decisions
