The Minnesota House of Representatives passed its Omnibus Health and Human Services Finance bill on Monday, putting in place a plan that protects health care jobs, supports hospitals and nursing homes, and continues the health care reform that was begun last session.

According to State Rep. Jeanne Poppe, the most significant aspects of this bill are that it prevents the deep cuts to hospitals being proposed by the Governor, and keeps more than 100,000 working Minnesotans on MinnesotaCare.

“Our state is facing an economic crisis unlike anything we have seen in decades,” Poppe said.

“This is not the time to cut funding for essential medical services to the bone, or to eliminate health insurance for thousands of Minnesotans.”

The House bill cuts $400 million from the health care budget to help resolve the state budget deficit.

The cuts to hospitals are one-tenth of the cuts being recommended by the governor. Under his plan, the Austin Medical Center would lose just under $5 million in the next two years through a series of direct and indirect cuts. Under the House plan, they would lose $406,000.

“Hospitals from across the state came to the Capitol last weekto share their deep concerns over the governor’s cuts,” said Poppe.

“They told us hospitals will close, services will be eliminated, and jobs will be lost; cuts of this magnitude will cause too much long-term damage and should not be considered.”

The house bill preserves the Health Care Access fund and adds 50,000 children who are already eligible but not enrolled in MinnesotaCare through a new streamlined process.

The bill also makes full use of $1.8 million in federal dollars under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The bill next moves to the Conference Committee where the differences with the Senate Health Care bill will be reconciled.