The GAMC Debacle: Hamstringing Minnesota's Progress
- Note: Late Friday (March 5) afternoon, Governor Pawlenty and State Legislative leaders announced a GAMC “rescue” compromise. Assistance recipients will not be whole-sale enrolled in Minnesota Care but will continue receiving care, albeit under new terms shifting financial responsibility away from the State of Minnesota’s general fund. Schools, communities and counties will recognize this maneuver.
- As with most Friday afternoon, late news cycle announcements, this triumph isn’t as triumphant as policy leaders declared. It’s a short-term fix, pushing real health care reform’s hard choices into the next biennium. This deal renders my column’s GAMC policy presumption inaccurate. My concluding observation remains, however, on the mark.
John Van Hecke, Minnesota 2020
In short order, the General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) program will expire and 32,000 aid recipients will be transferred to the Minnesota Care health insurance program because the Minnesota State House of Representatives failed to override Governor Tim Pawlenty's veto of the program extension. We knew this was coming. The final vote contained all the drama of, say, the tide receding.
What happened and who's responsible?
Tactically, Governor Pawlenty and his conservative allies triumphed. By insisting that Minnesota's on-going budget deficits may only be balanced through budget cuts rather than revenue increases, conservative policy preserving a favorable tax burden responsibility among Minnesota's highest income earners, relative to the support borne by lower income earners, is preserved. But, it's more complicated than that.
Related:
MN GOP, DFL Disgrace Themselves, the State, and 38,000 of Its Most Vulnerable Citizens, David Culver, Evergreene Digest
- We once were a state that works; now we’re a cheap imitation of a third-rate banana republic.
- For those of us (the majority) who believe that state government’s primary purpose is to take care of it's people, and that there's something wrong deep in the psyche of a person who doesn’t, it’s time to change course.
Tuesday Talk: Is the GAMC Deal a Long-Term Solution? Minnesota 2020
- On Friday (March 5), the Governor and legislators reached a “deal” on whether or not to continue providing health care to the state’s poorest residents. The good news is that the program, known as GAMC, will be extended and thousands of Minnesotans can continue to receive health care. The bad news is that the program will now be severely underfunded with no plans to address the real need that exists. It’s another example of Governor Pawlenty balancing the budget on the backs of Minnesota communities, school districts, and now local health care providers. Is this a long-term solution for providing health care to poor and homeless individuals? Will cuts to programs like GAMC help the state in the long run?
- Share your idea's in this week's Tuesday Talk.
