From
Rep. Tom Huntley:
"CHUM
and other religious groups made a big impact on the outcomes of this
legislative session. The House and Senate fought hard this past session to 1)
protect GAMC and 2) not do damage to GA/EGA/ and MFIP. We were successful in
including an option for the next Governor to enroll folks on GAMC to Medical
Assistance. Once on MA the individuals will get the care they need and the
providers will get closer to a fair reimbursement rate. Thanks to everyone at CHUM who was involved
in making this happen."
From
Rep. Roger Reinert:
"The work and lobbying effort that the GAMC
coalition put together was probably the strongest and most effective I
saw in
my first term in the House. It is not an understatement to say that
without that coalition as partners, there would no longer be a GAMC
program of
any kind in Minnesota.
The real solution is
early MA adoption. This is an action that would reward Minnesota for
being progressive when it
comes to healthcare for all citizens. Our current Governor will not
pursue this option because of his own political ambitions. I hope our
next Governor will put the state, and it's most vulnerable citizens,
ahead of
self. Until then, the final budget bill passed in our brief special
session included some small changes to improve GAMC in the short-term."
From Sen. Yvonne Prettner-Solon:
"Unfortunately,
the session did not wrap up exactly as I would have hoped, although I was
pleased with the Health and Human Services Budget conference committee bill we
passed. It is disappointing that the Governor had his veto pen poised before we
had the ink dry on our bill. Our
bill did not eliminate the Minnesota Food Assistance Program, as recommended by
the Governor, but increased the funding $150,000 for FY 2011. With the economy struggling to recover, we
also felt it would be prudent to increase funding for food shelves by $400,000
this year, $63,000 next year, and $63,000 in 2012-2013. These provisions are incredible
statements of the Senate's priorities at a time when we face a $3 billion
deficit and had to cut $114 million in the Health and Human Services budget.
There were no cuts to homeless shelters."
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