Lawmakers Getting Earful Over Rising Health Care Premiums
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The skyrocketing cost of health care premiums is suddenly center stage in Campaign 2016.
State lawmakers are calling for a Special Session to fix what they say are catastrophic premium hikes. But now, political experts say the rate hike crisis could be a deciding factor in the election.
About 95 percent of Minnesotans -- the vast majority -- are not affected by the sky high rate hikes. But about 250,000 Minnesotans are facing monthly premium hikes up to 67 percent.
And candidates are getting an earful.
"I ask members: What are you hearing about when you're knocking on doors, talking to people?" said Senate Democratic leader Tom Bakk. "It was clear to me that we are hearing from too many Minnesotans that this is just too big a burden on them."
And Republicans are blaming Democrats.
"They're getting hammered by people over this, because they created it," Senator David Hann, the GOP Minority Leader, said.
The shift coming after a politically damaging comment from Democratic Governor Mark Dayton last week:
"The affordable care act is no longer affordable," Dayton said last week.
Political analyst Larry Jacobs says Republicans are moving quickly to capitalize, making distrust of Obamacare the central message of their campaign.
"Governor Dayton hit a hole-in-one for the other team," said Jacobs, who teaches at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs in Minneapolis. "For a long time, Republicans have been saying that health reform doesn't work. Mark Dayton just provided the best evidence that they could have hoped for."
Outside groups and Republicans are spending millions of dollars on mail flyers and radio ads.
And in the race for Congress, television commercials for Republican candidates that focus on health care.
"Health care premiums are up 50 percent," begins one ad for Republican Congressman Erik Paulsen. Then, quoting Governor Dayton: "The affordable care act is no longer affordable."
But Democrats say that message is flawed. The number of uninsured is at record lows after passage of the Affordable Care Act.
Consumers can't be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. Dependents are covered to age 26. And Governor Dayton says Republicans will take that away.
"The reality is these increases are due to the repercussions of the Affordable Care Act, and the intransigence of Republicans in Congress to make the necessary improvements," said Dayton. "They want MNsure to fail. They want the Affordable Care Act to fail. They want them to fail."
Meanwhile, MNsure is strongly urging consumers who face rate hikes to check with MNsure online. You could be eligible for tax subsidies that could dramatically reduce your monthly bill.
Minnesota is not the only state where premiums will go up sharply. The Obama administration announced Monday premiums nationwide will increase an average of 25 percent, and the number of insurers will drop.
It's putting a lot of pressure on consumers.