Showing posts with label Larry Hosch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Larry Hosch. Show all posts

On Gottwalt's Supposed Health Reform
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As we continue to debate or, more accurately, hurl insults at one another about health care reform my good friend on the other side of the aisle, Gary Gross of Let Freedom Ring, has tried to claim that Representative Steve Gottwalt has the magic bullet for reform and that Democrats simply have not listened. In his most recent rant, Gross brings it up once again:

Saying that Republicans haven’t proposed health care solutions is either ignorance-driven or it’s plain dishonest. I’ve written more than a few times about Steve Gottwalt’s Healthy Minnesota Plan legislation.


Shortly after the last session ended, both Tarryl Clark and Larry Hosch sat down at a Senate District 14 DFL meeting and I asked Representative Hosch about the Gottwalt bill. I had left it in the file drawer but given that Mr. Gross wants to discuss the viability of the plan set forward by Representative Gottwalt I pulled it out and put it up on youtube:



Representative Hosch directed me to the fiscal note for this particular bill which has this to say:

The assumption that this bill is cost-neutral on an accrual (service year) basis is a default position which we take because this proposal constitutes a completely new method of purchasing, for which DHS has no relevant experience. The effects of private market rates, including private market inflation, and of underwriting, and the extent of expected MCHA losses are all areas of great uncertainty. The specification of the benefit set required by the bill is very general, which adds to the uncertainty about the expected fiscal result, because it is not possible to evaluate how attractive the new product may be to potential applicants compared to the existing product. Thus our assumption of cost-neutrality should not be interpreted as the result of analysis, but as a statement of our inability to advise the Legislature whether this bill should be expected to cost money or to save money, or to what extent. A 30% to 40% variance from cost-neutrality -- in either direction -- should be considered entirely possible. It is assumed that the systems work required for this proposal will allow implementation to begin January 1, 2011. [Emphasis Mine]
So what is the point? While Mr. Gross and Mr. Gottwalt would like you to believe that they have the key to reform, it is clear that this particular bill is not ready until many of its questions are answered with more certainty. The bill could cost us more money in MCHA which is the states high risk pool. The benefit set could be worse than MnCare. Also, this is a high deductible plan which is good for those who have money, but bad for those with little which is exactly the population this will cover. High deductible plans are the number one driver to increased bankruptcies that cite medical costs as the primary reason for the bankruptcy.

There certainly is the potential of this bill working out as a part of the solution to health care problems but it is entirely disingenuous for Mr. Gross and Mr. Gottwalt to claim that it is ready to be implemented or that it would clearly solve any issues.
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The Unallotment Man Cometh...
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9:23 PM | Posted in ,
Today is the day, the day on which Governor Pawlenty emerges from his throne room to announce to the peasantry what decisions he has made. It is the day on which we will see who will increase their share of the budget burden so that the wealthiest amongst us can avoid the pain.

A Governor who chose to meet with DFL leadership in the legislature only a handful of times and spent nearly a month outside of Minnesota during the legislative session itself will now go it alone. This strategy is not out of some magnanimous desire to help the state but rather out of a selfish need to impress conservative activists in crucial states needed to be the Republican nominee for President in 2012.

Last week I attended a meeting at which Representative Larry Hosch pointed out just what these decisions mean for the metaphorical family budget T-Paw likes to tout:



You can voice your concerns about this unprecedented move to subvert the authority of our legislative process by signing this petition at Defend Minnesota and sending a message to Governor Pawlenty that this is not how we do things here.
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Legislative Review W/Local Legislators Pt. 1
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Yesterday evening I traveled out to St. Joseph to attend the Senate District 14 DFL meeting at which Representative Larry Hosch and Senator Tarryl Clark spoke with locals about the recent legislative session.

Representative Hosch started things off with a brief review of both the budget put forward by Governor Pawlenty which he described as a budget of someone who would not be around to deal with its affects on Minnesota and the budget put forward by the legislature.



The biggest sticking point between the two sides, according to Hosch, appears to be whether they solved the remaining $1 billion budget gap by borrowing the money through bonding like the Governor proposed or whether to increase taxes on the wealthiest Minnesotans and through other sales taxation.

It was abundantly clear at this meeting that Hosch is a representative to be proud of as he pointed out the faults in the budget set forward by Pawlenty but also recognized that this systemic problem of deficits year after year is the fault of both the legislature and the Governor. It is refreshing to hear someone admit that there is a problem for which everyone is at fault including themselves and that he tried to do his part to fix that problem.

Stay tuned for more on Health & Human Services cuts, the GAMC veto, the constitutionality of unallotment, and more...
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Legislative Update: Larry Hosch
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A while back I had the opportunity to exchange a few emails with some local representatives in order to find out about their priorities for the upcoming legislative session. Representative Hosch (DFL) made it clear that his primary focus is improving health care and that it is from that that other problems and issues could be addressed.

He currently is working with Representative Seifert (R) and Representative Thissen (DFL) to, as I understand the legislation, provide oversight to rural health care cooperatives whose goal is controlling costs and improving access to vital health services.

I sent off some questions to Representative Hosch so that he might explain this legislation:
*Is this legislation addressing a specific problem in the health care system?
*How, specifically, does this legislation improve access to health care in rural areas?

Typically, I am of the opinion that we need large scale reform of the health care system whether through single payer or universal health care. However, I am also a pragmatist and realize that if the choice is between fixing part of the problem or fixing nothing because we can't come to an agreement over the solutions, then we need to be fixing the parts that we can agree upon.
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An Open Letter To Dan Severson
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Dear Dan,

In the St. Cloud Times today, you made the following statement:
I was very pleasantly surprised with what I and some others believe we heard from Sen. Tarryl Clark, the assistant Democrat Senate leader, and Rep. Larry Hosch, House Democrat assistant leader. They indicated raising taxes in these tough economic times would not be good.

Excuse me? You "believe" you heard Senator Clark and Representative Hosch say that "raising taxes in these tough economic times would not be good"? Perhaps you could tell us in full context what they actually DID say rather than creating little more than hearsay and rumor.

I understand that you and Representative Seifert would rather set up the terms by which you will later blame than actually coming to the table and making compromises like legitimate public servants. It would be helpful though if you didn't use statements which have already been debunked, even by your own echo chamber (although that acknowledgment and subsequent apology has been conveniently scrubbed).

Unfortunately, I am less and less hopeful as you and your tool, Gary Gross, continue to use these political tactics before even making attempts at working towards solutions.

I am less and less hopeful as Representative Seifert continues to indicate that he is taking his ball and going home. When your leadership indicates within 48 hours of hearing about the problem that you will not be doing anything helpful to solve the problem and will go so far as to vote against any budget bill then your team becomes the problem and NOT the solution.
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Legislative Priorities: Larry Hosch
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A little over a week ago I introduced what I hope will be a regular feature here on Liberal in the Land of Conservative: an examination of the legislative priorities of various state representatives and senators in the area. Moving forward, my hope is that this will also be an examination of whether or not those priorities are being accomplished.

Since beginning this blog journey I have not spent much time discussing Larry Hosch in House District 14B despite having met him several times and being impressed with his commitment and his intelligence with each of those meetings. Hosch has risen quickly and this session will be serving in the role of Assistant Majority Leader. Yet another reason to be proud of a DFL that not only promotes the brightest but also people that may not be purely in line with the rest of the party. With the weeding out of the Republican Party, we in the DFL must welcome diversity of opinion be they conservative, independent, or liberal Democrats.

Larry returned my email about legislative priorities and it appears as though his focus will be primarily on health care.

I will be pushing for health care reforms, mental health reforms, and fixing Green Acres. I will of course be working on the budget and performing duties associated with my new role as Assistant Majority leader.


With a fix in health care, according to Hosch, we will be freed up to do other things on the wish list.

If we address health care costs, we will then be able to do a much better job funding education as we would have more budget flexibility. Right now, health care costs are consuming our budget, preventing us from addressing other very important issues.


This is but a brief snippet of the goals Hosch wanted to relay to me and I am hoping to have further discussions via podcast with him to allow him to provide further details.
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St. Cloud Times Editorial Board: House District 14A & 14B
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A few days ago I posted the St. Cloud Times Editorial Board interviews for House District 15A & 15B candidates with some commentary on those particular races and a prediction about who will be given the endorsement. The St. Cloud Times also did interviews for its endorsements in the House District 14A and 14B races.

In House District 14A you have incumbent Dan Severson (R) going up against Rob Jacobs (DFL). This is a race that is absolutely winnable for Jacobs given his more conservative stances on social issues and the manner in which he has been running his campaign. When you couple that with the problems Severson has with blatant racism, spelling, imposing government even on "traditional" marriage, and perhaps being only the body put forward to fill the seat you have a candidate ripe for defeat.

In House District 14B you have incumbent Larry Hosch (DFL) going up against Jim Stauber (R). I haven't written anything about this race or even much about either of these candidates. However, I have met Larry on several occasions and I can attest to his absolute commitment to getting things done for his constituents and for Minnesota. One interesting thing to watch during these interviews is the number of times (especially during the YES/NO questions) Jim Stauber looks to Dan Severson in order to find out which answer is authorized.

I have cut the full interview into the subsequent questions. However, you will have to forgive the same introduction being added to each question so as to give proper source attribution. Also, it should be noted that the above maps come from Politics in Minnesota.

Candidate Introductions:


Question #1: What are your specific plans for education funding?


Question #2: What specifically (taxes? formula? bill? idea?) are you going to do to fix education funding?


Question #3: What are your specific solutions and what approaches would you support or oppose with regards to the budget deficit?


Question #4: Identify the two areas that you would look to for cuts.


Question #5: What is your position regarding the election and appointment of Minnesota judges?

Editorial Note: This seems like a very random question that will have little bearing on the decision most people will have in voting for an individual.

Question #6: What is your solution to overcoming the partisan divide?


This portion is a series of YES/NO questions:


Closing Statements:


My predictions, for what they are worth: In 14A, Rob Jacobs (DFL) and in 14B, Larry Hosch get the endorsement from the St. Cloud Times. Who do you think will be endorsed and why? Who deserves endorsement and why? Who deserves to be elected and why?
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Health Care Listening Session
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It takes a special kind of nerd to get excited about a public forum in which community members have the opportunity to share their stories and demand changes in our current health care system. Well, I happened to be that nerd sitting in the Whitney Senior Center this evening listening to ordinary citizens discuss with their legislators what they would like to see happen with health care in the future. I taped most of the event but given constraints on uploading videos and in the interest of brevity I pared down the two hour session to video responses given by each of the legislators in attendance. In attendance were Senator Jon Marty, Senator Tarryl Clark, Representative Larry Haws, Representative Larry Hosch, and for a short time Representative Steve Gottwalt.

Senator Marty provided a handout entitled "Principles of Health Care Reform"

In order to keep Minnesotans healthy and provide the best quality of health care, our health care system must:

(1) Ensure all Minnesotans receive high quality health care, regardless of their income;

(2) Not restrict, delay, or deny care or reduce the quality of care to hold down costs, but instead reduce costs through prevention, efficiency, and reduction of bureaucracy;

(3) Cover all necessary care, including all coverage currently required by law, complete mental health services, chemical dependency treatment, prescription drugs, medical equipment and supplies, dental care, long term care, and home care services;

(4) Allow patients to choose their own providers;

(5) Be funded through premiums and other payments based on the person's ability to pay, so as not to deny full access to all Minnesotans;

(6) Focus on preventative care and early intervention to improve the health of all Minnesotans and reduce costs from untreated illnesses and diseases;

(7) Ensure and adequate number of qualified health care professionals and facilities to guarantee availability of, and timely access to quality care throughout the state;

(8) Continue Minnesota's leadership in medical education, training, research, and technology; and

(9) Provide adequate and timely payments to providers.


The format was well organized, well attended, and nicely formatted as audience members had ample opportunity to provide their stories to the panel of legislators and offer advice on the way forward. Obviously, there were some ideas I did not agree with (such as the woman who felt we should scrap the entire system and start over) but, for the most part, the legislators allowed each person to testify and offered what advice and input they could.

Stories ranged from the retired police officer whose current health care premiums are bankrupting him, the woman advocating for single payer health care ala Canada, folks concerned about Medicare, people concerned about health care for the mentally ill, veterans concerned with health care on their return home, immigrants dealing with amputations, cancer patients, and a whole host of others who bravely told their story.

I have broken down responses by the legislator:

Jon Marty (Health Care)


Tarryl Clark (Health Care)


Larry Haws (Health Care)


Larry Hosch (Health Care)


Jon Marty Closing Statements


We need fixes in our health care system. Whether those fixes involve single payer or other minor fixes are certainly subject to debate. The primary fix I am currently an advocate of is a statewide pool for educators. It very nearly became a reality this past session but was unfortunately vetoed by our plurality Governor. However, with these legislators at the helm I am positive that those fixes can be accomplished.
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