MMA to back universal health care mandate?

Delegates at the Minnesota Medical Association's annual meeting in Minneapolis will vote on a resolution Friday calling for a universal health insurance coverage mandate in Minnesota. The MMA has supported universal coverage resolutions in the past, but delegates have never voted for a requirement.

MMA CEO Bob Meiches says the state's improving finances along with Massachusetts' decision to require universal coverage has inspired physicians to push for a mandate.

"We think there needs to be a mandate and we think we need to do it and we think this is the right time in the Minnesota Legislature to move something like this forward," Meiches says. "We see an increasing consensus of groups who are saying, 'Yep, we think we can get this done.'"

Meiches says the MMA's proposal will likely recommend that the state subsidize insurance coverage for people who can't afford to buy it.

The state's largest health plan, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, recently unveiled a similar proposal to mandate universal coverage.