Finstad: Legislature looking to curb health care costs

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Even though the 2004 Legislative session is supposed to be about bonding, Republican lawmakers' efforts to try to curb mounting health care costs will provide a lot of non-bonding action, Rep. Brad Finstad told local health care professionals Friday.

The New Ulm Republican said the House's Health and Human Services Finance committee chair, Rep. Fran Bradley, R-Rochester, "has traveled the state gathering information for the Health Care Cost Containment Act which he will introduce in this session" which starts Monday.

"(With this legislation), we want to create an awareness, more common sense in health care (spending) and try to establish what health care costs can be cut," Finstad said.

However, he said the "sick" tax, a state tax levied on medical services, has to go.

"Over $600 million a year is collected in Minnesota, but it goes into the general fund and doesn't come back into health care. But the problem is going to be replacing that $600 million. You've heard of the $1 tax on cigarettes as a way to replace it, but that may be hard to put through."

Another goal of the legislation is to determine what incentives can be offered "to promote healthy life styles, like for those who have diabetes, for example, and dis-incentives for unhealthy practices," Finstad continued.

"We need to throw these ideas out there, but we'll need your help in getting the right information so keep letting us know how you feel as we work through this during the session. There's a lot that most of us (legislators) don't understand about the health care field so you'll need to help us out."

Finstad said the act will cover a potpourri of health care issues, dealing with three main elements of health care provision: hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living centers.

The act includes malpractice reform which would limit "non-economic damages" to $250,000 per incident, protect non-profit hospitals from punitive damage awards and provide a vehicle for weeding out health care providers with "bad malpractice records," Finstad explained.

"We're also going to look at wasteful paperwork that (health care facility) staffs are required to fill out. Rep. (Lynda) Boudreau (R-Faribault) has a bill looking at waste in paperwork."

In effect, the act will force the legislature to look at itself, too, Finstad said, "because there are 42 government mandates (most of which are not funded) in place right now. This bill will put a moratorium on all new mandates until existing ones can be reviewed."

Finstad promised the committee would fight efforts to consolidate sources of prescription drugs in rural areas.

"We want to retain rural pharmacies which are only minutes away from those they serve rather than having people get their prescriptions from a central point. We need to keep local access pharmacies," Finstad said.

A long-term plan for assisted living facilities is needed in Minnesota because right now "our attorney general is on a witch-hunt" trying to establish wrong-doing on the part of assisted living facilities, Finstad said.

"But, we (the Legislature) are the worst ones to do it. Give us the answers and recommendations on where you want to see the industry going."