Land Stewardship Project

Land Stewardship Project
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Long Range Plan
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
    • Contact Us
    • Past LSP Projects
    • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
    • LSP Publications
  • The Latest
    • 40th Anniversary Events
    • Tell us an LSP Story
    • CSA Farm Directory
    • Upcoming Events
    • News
      • News Releases
      • Media Contacts
      • LSP in the News
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Land Stewardship Letter
    • LIVE-WIRE Sign-up
    • Myth Busters
    • Fact Sheets
    • Farm Crisis Resources
  • For Farmers & Landowners
    • New Farmers
      • Farm Beginnings Class
      • Journeyperson Course
      • Farm Dreams Workshop
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Accessing Farmland
      • Beginning/Retiring Farmer Tax Credit
      • Beginning Farmer Profiles
    • Retiring Farmers & Landowners
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Conservation Leases
      • Beginning/Retiring Farmer Tax Credit
      • Land Transition Tools
      • Transition Stories
    • Soil Health
      • Cover Crops
      • Grazing
      • No-till
      • Microbiology
      • Soil Builders’ Network
      • Soil Builders’ E-Letters
    • Cropping Systems Calculator
    • Conservation Leases
  • Creating Change
    • Policy Campaigns
      • Soil Health & Climate Change
      • Regional Food Systems
      • Healthcare
      • Factory Farms
      • Federal Policy
      • State Policy
      • Developing Leadership
      • Caucus for Land Stewardship
    • Justice & Stewardship
    • Organizational Stewardship
    • Building People Power
  • Get Involved
    • Take Action!
    • Upcoming Events
    • Land Stewardship Action Fund
    • Connect with LSP
      • Stay Connected
      • Join, Donate, or Renew Today!
      • Shop
      • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
      • Legacy Giving
    • Network with LSP Members
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Soil Health
  • Join, Donate, or Renew Today!
  • Stay Connected
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
Search
More...

MN Legislature: Healthcare Needs Permanent Solutions, Not More Band-Aids

By Aleta Borrud
May 10, 2021

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • email

The Land Stewardship Project believes that in order for our communities to thrive, everyone, regardless of background or zip code, must have access to the healthcare they need. Yet lack of healthcare access and high costs continue to be major financial stresses for all Minnesotans — particularly for rural residents. More people in rural areas lack employer-based insurance or are uninsured than in urban areas. And even with insurance, about half of people are on high deductible insurance plans with such extreme up-front costs to accessing care that people are forgoing or delaying the care they need.

In Minnesota, most legislative efforts in recent years have focused on keeping premium costs down to make purchasing health insurance more affordable. But this has been offset by significant shifting of the cost of care to people in the form of co-pays and co-insurance, in addition to up-front deductibles. Few people, especially after the economic drain of the pandemic, have the resources to pay thousands of dollars out-of-pocket if faced with an emergency hospitalization. As a result, many rural hospitals are operating at a loss, with threat of permanent closure. In addition, other essential components of healthcare in rural Minnesota face shortfalls, such as lack of in-home care workers, nursing home beds, obstetric and mental health services, and volunteer staffing for ambulances.

Our fractured payment system for healthcare fails to guarantee equitable access for all Minnesotans. The billing complexity frustrates medical providers and wastes precious healthcare dollars. Medical providers spend hours obtaining authorization for necessary care for patients, while up to a third of the costs of hospitalization are spent on billing and coding. We must demand better for all our communities if they are to be places where people want to invest their lives.

When access to care is limited by availability, either due to distance or restrictive provider networks, people can’t “shop for care.” It’s time to discard the worn-out call for marketplace solutions as a means of controlling costs. When companies can profit from healthcare, controlling costs means reducing care, such as by closing rural clinics or standing between doctors and the care they want to prescribe for patients. We need to use our collective power, as Minnesota residents, to demand investment in healthcare. We need a publicly funded and publicly administered system of care that takes profit out of the equation and guarantees access to care wherever people live. This is a critical part of the reinvestment needed to rebuild the strength of our rural communities.

We are far from creating the healthcare system we need, but during the 2021 session of the Minnesota Legislature, important efforts were made to lay the groundwork for key changes. The House passed these steps during the regular session:

• Require our state government to report on alternate methods of delivering care and reimbursing medical providers in Minnesota’s public medical insurance programs. This could provide information on possible cost efficiencies of public administration of public health insurance programs.

• Require our state government to develop and report a proposal for a public health insurance option program by December 15, 2021.

• Establish a Prescription Drug Affordability Board to control the runaway costs of pharmaceuticals.

• Establish public hearings to review impact on communities before healthcare entities close facilities or reduce services.

In contrast, the Minnesota Senate continues to support “reinsurance,” a program that uses taxpayer dollars to insure insurance companies against losses, while people still go into debt paying for healthcare. LSP argued against using healthcare dollars in this way, as this program does nothing to control significant out-of-pocket costs for people needing to buy insurance on their own in the marketplace. But most importantly, we opposed this because it continues an insurance system that is not making care more affordable and accessible, especially for rural communities, farmers, and our Main Street businesses.

The fundamental change we need in the healthcare system in Minnesota will not happen this year, despite our shared concern. We need to come together in our communities and ask legislators to deliver meaningful solutions instead of replacing Band-Aids.

Join LSP’s Healthcare Hotlist to keep updated on ways you can participate in creating a truly healthy healthcare system in Minnesota.

Aleta Borrud, a retired physician from Rochester, Minn., recently worked as an LSP healthcare organizer.

Category: Blog
Tags: affordable healthcare for all • healthcare • healthcare reform • rural healthcare

Upcoming Events

×

July 2022

Wednesday July 6

4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Farming in Karst Country
Farming in Karst Country
Wednesday July 6
4:00 pm – 8:00 pm

A special LSP workshop called “Farming in Karst Country” will highlight the intersection of soil-building farming practices, water movement, and karst geology. Local farmer presenters and karst geologists will share how practices like no-till, cover crops and intensive, rotational grazing can improve the health of the soil and underground streams. The Bishop family will host the event at Niagara Cave. The cost to attend is $20 for adults, $10 fo runder 16, and includes a cave tour and dinner. Space is limited to 75 participants. For details and to register, click here.

Tuesday July 12

6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP Deep Canvassing Training
LSP Deep Canvassing Training
Tuesday July 12
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Deep canvassing is a candid, non-judgmental, two-way conversation where canvassers ask voters to share their relevant, emotionally significant experiences and reflect on them aloud. It is one of the most durable and proven forms of persuasion when talking to people who might hold differing beliefs than you and is going to be critical in creating the world we want and need.

Join the Land Stewardship Action Fund to learn about deep canvassing, what it is and why it’s important, and get trained on how to deep canvass so you’re able to powerfully participate in LSAF’s upcoming deep canvasses and put these important skills to use in your community. Register at https://secure.everyaction.com/f4vV9QoSbUWMe4UVzQFrVg2.

Wednesday July 13

5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP Small Grains Deep Dive
LSP Small Grains Deep Dive
Wednesday July 13
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Come join Terry Cunningham, producer of certified organic commodities for 34 years, and Nic Podoll, small grains specialist with the Rodale Institute, as well as resource specialists from the Freeborn County Soil and Water Conservation District, for this peer-to-peer information and discussion field day.
 
This field day will include information and discussion about Cunningham’s experiences over three decades raising corn, soybeans, oats, alfalfa, barley, field peas, winter rye, winter wheat, triticale, spelt, and sweet clover.
 
This event is free; dinner will be provided; a free-will offering for the meal is welcomed. For more information and to register, click here.

Tuesday July 19

5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
LSP Grazing Group Pasture Walk at Knutson Shorthorns
LSP Grazing Group Pasture Walk at Knutson Shorthorns
Tuesday July 19
5:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Zach Knutson of Knutson Shorthorns is hosting a pasture walk for area graziers to show specialty crops grown in bale residue left behind by cows from winter-feeding. A range of specialty crops planted include: tomatoes, peppers, huckleberries, sweet corn, cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, eggplant, and more. 
 
Also on the farm, cattle are grazing an 11-way mix of summer annuals (dwarf sorghum-sudan, BMR grazing corn, crimson clover, mung beans, sun hemp, collards, African cabbage, kale, baldy safflower, plantain, and chicory). There will be discussions around integrating livestock and specialty crop production, marketing to a wider audience with limited additional land or labor, and extended grazing. To register, click here.

Tuesday July 26

7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
LSP Virtual Policy Organizing Meeting
LSP Virtual Policy Organizing Meeting
Tuesday July 26
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Join LSP as we launch our first of many Monthly Virtual Policy Organizing Meetings! On the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. we will gather to learn about what is happening at the state, local, and federal level; take collective action together; dive into an issue campaign of your choice; and break out into regional groups to build relationships with other LSPers in your area. For more information or to register, see https://secure.everyaction.com/CwoHag9NBUC4XpuCKAIhCg2.

View Full Calendar

Recent Posts

  • Small Grains, Cover Cropping, Organic Weed Control Featured at 2 Freeborn County Soil Health Field Days June 23, 2022
  • Land Line: Tillage’s Toll, Conservation & Leases, Soil Health & Nutrient Density, Emerging Farmer Help June 22, 2022
  •  ‘Farming in Karst Country’ Workshop July 6 at Niagara Cave in Harmony June 16, 2022
  • LSP Grazing Group Pasture Walk to Feature Grazing of Summer Annuals July 19 Near Zumbrota  June 16, 2022
  • Beginning Farmer Program for MN, WI & IA Accepting Applications for 2022-2023 Course June 10, 2022

Montevideo

117 South First Street
Montevideo, MN 56265

(320) 269-2105

Lewiston

180 E. Main Street
Lewiston, MN 55952

(507) 523-3366

Minneapolis

821 E. 35th Street #200
Minneapolis, MN 55407

(612) 722-6377

Copyright © 2022 Land Stewardship Project. All rights reserved.

https://landstewardshipproject.org/mn-legislature-healthcare-needs-permanent-solutions-not-more-band-aids