New plan for ills that ail state

March 30, 2005
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Two Minnesota lawmakers have proposed a bill that would require every Minnesotan to buy at least basic health insurance by January 2007.  If approved, health plans would have to offer medical coverage at a price that couldn't vary based on a person's age, gender, health history or status. The bill is based largely on recommendations from the Minnesota Medical Association.  The proposal is the first of its kind in the United States, according to Roger Feldman, a health care economist at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.  "We're breaking new ground, although the thing it's most similar to is auto insurance. We have a law that says if you want to drive a car, you have to have insurance....without those laws a lot fewer people would have auto insurance," said Feldman, who supports the general idea of mandatory health insurance.

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