"Health reform" is a charged topic these days, but the state hopes to be able to provide consumers with some facts on the topic.
A new state website, http://healthreform.mn.gov, has been launched to explain state and federal health reform efforts, and how they affect costs and insurance coverage options.
Gov. Mark Dayton, a DFLer, came into office a supporter of the 2010 federal health-reform law, the Affordable Care Act, His predecessor, Republican Tim Pawlenty, opposed it and sought to block the provisions from taking effect in Minnesota.
The website seeks to explain provisions of the federal law and when they take effect, such as the fact that people cannot be denied coverage based on pre-existing conditions beginning in 2014. Also in that year, there will be more options for those who do not have insurance coverage.
That assumes the law remains in effect. Republicans seeking their party's nod to run against President Barack Obama in November 2012 have vowed to repeal the Act, which they call "Obamacare."
In 2008, the state passed a less ambitious health-reform law dealing with such issues as community health and the experience of patients. Those changes will also be detailed on the website.
Dayton has taken two other steps to use the new federal law in Minnesota. He accepted federal Medicare coverage for poor single adults, which Pawlenty had rejected, and has a group working to organize a health-insurance exchange, which Pawlenty refused to do.
