Dems prep plan to cut health care costs

Emergency room
A bed in the emergency room at Hennepin County Medical Center.
MPR Photo/Tim Post

Several House and Senate Democrats will present their plan for cutting health care costs to help balance the state budget.

An architect of the proposal says it saves money by boosting prevention spending on anti-smoking and obesity campaigns.

The plan also revisits an experiment that would pay providers a predetermined, lump sum of money to care for their patients -- rather than reimbursing them for each individual patient visit.

That reform idea was defeated during the previous legislative session, but some Democrats want to revive the proposal as a way to help the state save up to 20 percent on its health care costs in the next few years.

Providers who resist the payment change argue that they could lose money if their patients need more care than expected.

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