Democrats renew push to make MinnesotaCare available to all residents regardless of income

Democrats, who now control both the Minnesota House and Senate, have renewed their long-standing push to allow any Minnesotan regardless of income to buy health insurance through state-run MinnesotaCare.  They point to Tavona Johnson — she says her husband was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer and they drained their retirement fund to pay insurance premiums for chemotherapy which was 14 thousand dollars per visit:

“My husband passed away just a little over a month ago.  The money that he saved and planned to use for us to retire together is gone.”

D-F-L sponsors say premiums for a “MinnesotaCare buy-in” would be on a sliding scale based on income.  Republicans have not yet commented on this latest proposal, but in the past they’ve warned the approach moves toward government-run health care.