Minnesota governor candidates pushing for single-payer health care system

A single-payer plan for the state of Minnesota is on the table if Tim Walz or Erin Murphy win the governor election.

Both Democratic candidates this week have focused on the rising costs associated health care.

The state would take a greater role in expanding health care coverage through a single-payer system and could help decrease drug costs by utilizing the state’s purchasing power.

In a statement, Walz said he supports a longer-term shift to a single-payer system, allowing Minnesotans to buy into MinnesotaCare in the meantime.

MinnesotaCare is currently the state’s subsidized insurance program for the poor.

“We must take meaningful action to ensure every Minnesotan has access to high-quality, affordable health coverage,” Walz said.

Murphy also supports the buy-in idea through MinnesotaCare. But the former registered nurse also wants the state to continue to contract directly with health care providers to take HMOs out of the process.

“I can’t recall a time when I have seen or heard the kind of stories that I’m hearing from the people of Minnesota about the high cost of care, about the shrunken networks, about being locked in and out of provider access, about the real fear of financial loss,” Murphy said Tuesday. “It is time for us to propose and enact a solution that is a game-changer, a system-changer, for the state of Minnesota.”

Meanwhile Republicans have pushed getting rid of MNSure, the state’s health insurance marketplace, and having citizens pick and choose what they want covered.