TakeAction Minnesota — which has lobbied loudly to get health care plans to return some of their $2.5 billion in reserve funds to the state — took its crusade from the Capitol to the health plan offices Thursday.
The group says the amount kept in reserve by the four major HMOs is far more than needed, and that at least $518 million should be returned to the state to help ease the budget deficit and prevent severe cuts to health care.
A large group with signs showed up at the Minnesota Council of Health Plans offices in St. Paul at noon today. No one in the offices came to the door.
The group said it agrees that the health plans should keep some money in reserve but said that about $2 billion would be a conservative, generous amount to hold in reserve. "The $2.5 billion is way too much," said spokesperson Greta Bergstrom.
TakeAction had said Tuesday's agreement to cap health plan profits at 1 percent on state contracts this year was a start but didn't go far enough in returning the excess money accumulated over the years by the funds.
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Comments (2)
And, each year they have that $2 billion in reserve, every penny not spent on health care should by law be returned to the state.
We need to remember that their reserve is OUR money.
What most people fail to realize is those reserve dollars are invested and the interest on those investments is what carriers use to pay their bills. The margin on premiums is so low that insurance companies would not be able to keep the lights on with those monies alone.