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Republican legislators taking orders from corporate insurance world

To the editor:

Legislators could use a sign to remind them who they should be working for. Such a sign would say, “Prioritizing for-profit health insurers over MN taxpayers is wrong!” To be honest the sign needs to be read by Republican legislators, as they are not looking out for taxpayer interests. Given their majority, it has been far too easy for them to take orders from the highly influential and overpaid corporate insurance world.

So far this session, insurance companies have been given $540 million in public money for a “reinsurance” program to protect them from losing money, money given with no accountability and no assurances that the “benevolent” corporations will work to provide affordable health care access for all.

The insurance companies’ $7 billion in assets have been built with public help over decades, with tax breaks and public contracts and subsidies. Now the Republican thinking is to bring in for-profit HMOs, with little or no protection for the taxpayer. This has not played out well for other states that fell into such a trap. The idea that insurance companies could convert public assets into private profits and fat payouts to executives is appalling. Legislators need to protect the public’s stake now before it is too late. Has your senator and representative heard from you?

Darwin Dyce

Ghent

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