By Barb Brady
MNA Communications Specialist
April 11 brought Minnesotans together for a Day of Action for Healthcare for All. A crowd gathered near Blue Cross/Blue Shield’s headquarters in Eagan to rally for a publicly funded healthcare system that covers everyone and costs less: Medicare for All.
Speakers from the Minnesota Nurses Association, National Nurses United, the Land Stewardship Project, and Physicians for a National Health Program energized dozens of attendees with a call for Medicare for All, which would ensure access to quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans.
The group then went to Blue Cross/Blue Shield headquarters with a letter asking for Blue Cross CEO Michael Guyette to publicly commit to lowering premiums and selling individual insurance products statewide.
Blue Cross and other Minnesota insurance companies just received a $542 million handout from taxpayers in the form of a new “reinsurance” program. Promoted as stabilizing the individual insurance market, the insurance companies are not actually required to lower premiums or provide policies in under-served areas in Greater Minnesota. Nurses and allies said that throwing more money at the insurance industry would not guarantee high-quality, affordable healthcare for Minnesotans; single payer is the only solution that will cover every Minnesotan.
National Nurses United Co-President Jean Ross presented the letter to a Blue Cross representative who said it would be delivered to the CEO.
