CCHC Delivers First Set of Citizen Petitions to MN Governor and Legislative Leadership

(St. Paul, Minnesota) - The opposition of citizens to the House and Senate "best practices" health care legislation was delivered yesterday to Minnesota's governor and legislative leadership.

"Hundreds and hundreds of citizen petitions have come into CCHC's office. People all over the state are adamant that government-directed health care never see the light of day in Minnesota," said Twila Brase, president of Citizens' Council on Health Care (CCHC)

"The fact that government is also going to snoop through private patient medical records to track their doctors makes people all the more angry," she added.

Citizen petitions, stacked in multiple binders more than 12 inches high,were hand-delivered first to Governor Tim Pawlenty's office, than to the office of Speaker Steve Sviggum (R-Kenyon), and finally to the office of Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson (D-Willmar). Each stack of binders was a different color: green binders for Speaker Steve Sviggum, yellow binders for Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson , and red binders for Governor Tim Pawlenty.

"We chose the color of the binders for a very specific purpose," said Brase.

"The House gave the green light to this dangerous proposal. The Senate failed to heed the cautionary signals our organization was sending in press releases and testimony. And unless the House and Senate delete the proposal, only the Governor can stop it from becoming law."

The major House and Senate health care bills (HF1681/SF1760) contain the proposal, have passed on the floor of their respective chambers (the Senate, using HF 2028), and await conference committee action. The Governor earlier signaled his support for state-imposed "best practices," saying in his February State of the State address that his administration will "force health care providers to use best practices."

"Citizen petitions continue to stream into the office. We're collecting them for a second delivery," said Brase.