SAINT PAUL, Minn. (Jan. 31, 2019) — More than 50 diverse Minnesota advocacy organizations have joined together in a letter to lawmakers to show support for maintaining the Health Care Access Fund.
“This funding is critical to the health and wellbeing of so many vulnerable Minnesotans,” said Emily Myatt, ACS CAN Minnesota interim government relations director. “We can’t cross our fingers and hope for the best. We need to find a way to cover these costs when the provider tax runs out. If we don’t, patients, families and health care providers will suffer when patients need care they can’t pay for.”
The letter shows support for finding a new funding source. One in five Minnesotans depend on public health care programs that are funded in part by the Health Care Access Fund. The provider tax is the largest source of revenue to the Health Care Access Fund but is scheduled to sunset in December 2019. Allowing the provider tax to expire without identifying dedicated future funding would jeopardize access to health care for thousands of Minnesotans and threaten prevention programs needed to curb rising health care costs.
The organizations that have signed on to the letter to lawmakers are:
A.C.E. of SW Minnesota
Allina Health
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American Heart Association
Arthritis Foundation
AspireMN
Association of Minnesota Counties
Catholic Charities of St. Paul & Minneapolis
Christ the King Lutheran Church, Bloomington
Christ the King Lutheran Community Health Initiative
City of Bloomington/Public Health Division
Clare Housing
Community Health Organization
Des Moines Valley Health and Human Services
Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota
Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare
Goodhue County Health and Human Services
Goodhue County Live Well
Hardwick Fire and Rescue
Hennepin County
Hennepin Healthcare
Horizon Public Health
Itasca County Public Health
JustUs Health
Kandiyohi County
Kenyon Community Garden
Living Well Disability Services
Local Public Health Association of Minnesota
Metropolitan Center for Independent Living (MCIL)
Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians
Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers (MNACHC)
Minnesota Association of Community Mental Health Programs (MACMHP)
Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance
Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
Minnesota Community Care
Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities
Minnesota Hospital Association
Minnesota Independence College and Community (MICC)
Minnesota Inter-County Association (MICA)
Minnesota Medical Association
Minnesota Public Health Association
Minnesota Speech-Language-Hearing Association
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
National Psoriasis Foundation
Pine County Public Health
Proof Alliance (formerly MOFAS)
Scott County Public Health
Sherburne County
Southwest Health & Human Services
St. Louis County
The Arc Minnesota
The City of Minneapolis
The Kenyon Leader Newspaper
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Twin Cities Medical Society
Western Mental Health Center