Join Healthcare Advocates for a “Sunshine Rally” to Stop the Sunset of the Provider Tax!
Thursday, March 21, at 10 a.m., in the Minnesota State Capitol Rotunda,
The Land Stewardship Project organizes for healthcare for all because we know that the lack of affordable, high-quality care is a major barrier to our vision of thriving rural communities with more farmers on the land, and with people able to choose the work they want to do without worries about healthcare coverage. Every person deserves care, and it is our responsibility as people to work together through our government to ensure we have a healthcare system that meets everyone’s needs. We know we have lots of work to do to achieve this goal of major healthcare reform. But incredibly, right now some elected officials want to take us backwards and make the rural healthcare crisis even worse by creating a roughly $700-million-a-year hole in Minnesota’s healthcare budget.
Why the Provider Tax Matters:
Minnesota’s Health Care Access Fund is used to fund public health programs and healthcare for one million Minnesotans enrolled in Medicaid and MinnesotaCare. This money comes from a 2% tax paid by healthcare providers, a formula which has worked successfully since 1992, when it was created with bipartisan leadership and signed into law by Gov. Arne Carlson. But as part of a deal to end the 2011 state government shutdown, Republican leadership of the Minnesota House and Senate struck an agreement with Gov. Mark Dayton to set a December 2019 sunset date on the provider tax. Stopping the sunset would prevent an unnecessary budget catastrophe by simply continuing what has worked well for decades to ensure stable funding for Medicaid and MinnesotaCare. But unfortunately, some legislators are now trying to misrepresent what the provider tax is and what continuing it would mean. We need to make sure we continue investing this public money for the public good.
Join Us to Speak Up!
It’s time to send a loud and clear message to our legislators: stop the sunset of the provider tax! That’s why the This Is Medicaid coalition and other healthcare advocates are hosting a “Sunshine Rally” in the State Capitol Rotunda on Thursday, March 21, starting at 10 a.m. Click here for details. This will be an opportunity to learn more about why the provider tax is so important and let our legislators know that investing in healthcare matters to us.
We are pleased that Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan have made keeping the provider tax a key priority in their budget proposal. Click here to read an LSP commentary that has run in newspapers across the state describing the important steps forward in the administration’s plan. Stopping the sunset of the provider tax keeps our state on a stable footing from which we can move forward with greatly needed long-term healthcare reform, as well as short-term relief for the many Minnesotans facing unaffordable costs. The health and well-being of all people and of the land are interconnected, and we cannot thrive as a state if we cut our investments in the healthcare Minnesotans need.
We look forward to seeing you at the rally on Thursday, March 21. Please reply to this e-mail to let us know if you plan to attend, and feel free to contact us with questions or ideas.
Sincerely,
LSP Healthcare Organizers
Paul Sobocinski, Wabasso, MN, 507-430-1509, e-mail
Johanna Rupprecht, Lewiston, MN, 507-523-3366, e-mail