The MMA takes the position that Minnesota's health care system needs comprehensive reform. Here are some key changes advocated in the MMA's reform plan, Physicians' Plan for a Healthy Minnesota.

The MMA supports:

• Health coverage for all Minnesotans with an approach that includes the private insurance market and government programs or subsidies that assists those who cannot afford coverage
• An individual mandate requiring all Minnesotans to have health coverage for an essential set of benefits
• A guarantee that all Minnesotans can buy affordable coverage in the private market, regardless of their previous health history
• A strong public health system with an emphasis on disease prevention
• A "medical home" for all patients that takes care of them and helps them coordinate their health care. To achieve this, the MMA supports reforming the current payment system so that it reimburses clinicians for not only responding to diseases but also for managing and preventing them.
• A transparent health care system where patients are informed consumers of health care services
• A system that provides patients meaningful data about the quality and cost of their care through public reporting of quality measures and cost data

A reform leader
The MMA has taken a leadership role in health care reform, bringing together physicians, legislators, educators, and executive leaders of health plans, hospitals, clinics, and consumer groups to develop a comprehensive health care reform plan.

The health care reform bill's author, Rep. Thomas Huntley, DFL-Duluth, credited the MMA and its Physicians' Plan for a Healthy Minnesota with starting the process that led to the passage of the historic legislation. 

Gov. Tim Pawlenty signs the health care reform bill  May 29, 2008. Behind him are Rep. Thomas Huntley, DFL-Duluth, (far left), and MMA Board Member David C. Thorson, M.D., (second from the left).  "It was the MMA and their report that actually led to what we're discussing today," said Huntley at the signing.

The MMA’s reform plan stirred interest and discussion, after being released in 2005.  In March 2006, the MMA brought together influential leaders in health care, business, state government, labor, education, and consumer advocacy to form an independent group, Healthy Minnesota: A Partnership for Reform.

The MMA's reform plan served as the starting point for the partnership, but the independent group developed its own vision for the future and proposed legislation in 2007. That legislation and the relationships developed by the Partnership for Reform helped to lay the groundwork for the passage of the 2008 reform bill.

 

Learn More

Webinar: Federal Reform Implications for Minnesota Physicians (Recorded April 30, 2010)
PowerPoint: Federal Reform Implications for Minnesota Physicians (April 30, 2010)
Health Care Reform Comments - Minnesota
Health Care Reform: The Road Ahead (special supplement to Minnesota Medicine Sept. 2008)
The MMA's health care reform vision
Minnesota Health Care Reform Bill signed June 12, 2008 (S.F. 3780)
MMA One Page Minnesota Health Care Reform Act Handout (July 2008)
Healthy Minnesota bill introduced in 2007
Physicians' Plan for a Healthy Minnesota 
Health Care Transformation Task Force (State of Minnesota)