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Sen. John Marty talks about the Minnesota Health Plan during a presentation at the Mower County Senior Center Wednesday night. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

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Health care plan highlighted

For State Sen. John Marty, DFL-Minneapolis, health care is no longer a political issue – it is a moral issue.

Marty spoke at a health care presentation sponsored by the Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition at the Senior Center Wednesday evening.

“Health care ought to be a right,” Marty said. “We have people going bankrupt from lack of health care; we have people dying from lack of health care. It’s a moral issue.”

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Marty is the chief author of a bill in the State Senate introducing the Minnesota Health Plan, which is a plan that would cover all Minnesotans and all medical issues.

People on hand at Wednesday night's presentation on the Minnesota Health Plan listen as Dr. Brian Yablon, M.D. talks about the problems of the current health coverage system in the U.S. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

“We’re going to cover everything, including dental, including prescription drugs, including mental illness, including chemical dependency,” Marty said during his presentation. “We’re going to cover more people and more things.”

Marty compared the health care plan to services that citizens pay for out of their taxes, like police, fire and road services.

“If you call 911, the police dispatcher won’t ask if you have police insurance,” he said.

The plan would be paid for through premiums based on a person’s ability to pay. However, Marty said, the plan would cost less than current health care costs, in most cases.

Executive Director of the Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition Amy Lange, R.N., cited Colorado as an example.

Lange said Colorado conducted a study in 2006 weighing health care options and the cost differences and found that a single-payer, universal system would cost approximately $1.4 billion less than any of the other options and would cover more people.

“Colorado didn’t adopt the plan because they thought it was not politically realistic,” Marty said. “Maybe it’s time to start changing what’s politically realistic.”

At the rate the current Minnesota health plan rates are increasing, health care is projected to increase by $20 billion in the next five years, which would exceed the entire state of Minnesota general fund of $17 billion, Marty said.

“Our (current) system is due to fail,” Lange said. “It’s like an umbrella that melts in the rain. If it doesn’t cover you … what’s the point?”

Lange also said if the Minnesota Health Plan is passed through the legislature and signed into law, it would not be affected by the federal health care bill passed earlier this year. The federal bill has a provision saying that a state can opt out of the federal plan if it can provide benefits that are as good and can cover the same amount of people or more.

“This (plan) way exceeds the federal bill,” Lange said.

“We’d all have the same health care that the richest person in the state gets,” Marty said. “It’s the most outrageous thing that constituents don’t get the same health care as public officials.”