The tail end of the legislative session is bringing with it high drama. With regard to healthcare legislation, recent good news came with the agreement of the state’s largest safety net hospital to take part in a completely taxpayer-subsidized healthcare delivery program. Unfortunately, that program is only part of the healthcare delivery story. Challenging the Democrat-controlled legislature is the possible executive veto of last-minute provisions that generally are characterized by expanding Minnesota’s Medicaid program.

Democratic lawmakers are hoping to pre-empt any kneejerk reaction by the governor by explaining its rationale for the plan,^[1] which they will hope change the governor’s reservations about the scope of state spending^[2] with the bill. It appears things once again come down to the governor’s veto power. Will he believe the Dems’ claims of lowered commitments to federal Medicaid funds to pay for healthcare, or will he stick to his guns, continuing his record on his brand of fiscal responsibility? | LINK

1. Gov. Pawlenty earlier estimated that the move would bring in about $900 million over the next three years until 2014 — using state-matched funds that would not be paid for by the federal government until then. This would create a significant burden for Minnesota’ s current budget. Pawlenty says it’s too steep. [↩]
2. Dem lawmakers say the overall cost to Minnesota is less than a third of that projection. [↩]

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