Why Was Halverson the Only Democrat to Vote Against the Health Insurance Exchange?

Last week, all but one of the Democrats in the Minnesota House voted in favor of a bill establishing a state health insurance exchange.

Who was the lone DFL hold-out?

Eagan's District 51B Rep. Laurie Halverson (DFL).

While the bill eventually passed both the House and Senate, Halverson's vote against the measure stood out. Critics accused her of representing the interests of her former employer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, which is opposed to the bill in its current form, according to a recent Politics in Minnesota report.

But the Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce, which believes the insurance exchange will hurt the state's small businesses, applauded Halverson's decision.

It's not as if Halverson opposes the idea of a health insurance exchange in its entirety. As a member of the Health and Human Services Finance Committee, Halverson has been neck-deep in the issue of health insurance reform since the start of the legislative session. She is even listed as a co-sponsor of the bill she eventually voted against.

So what happened?

The way Halverson tells it, her opposition to the current bill boiled down to two specific concerns.

First, Halverson had reservations about a 3.5 percent tax on plans bought in the exchange included in the House version of the bill. The House plan relies on the tax to cover costs.

"It's small employers and individuals that pay the bulk of taxes in Minnesota, and the House plan has them paying an additional 3.5 percent tax," Halverson said.

Finally, the legislator said she didn't agree with bill provision that puts control of the health insurance exchange into the hands of a seven-member board appointed largely by the Minnesota governor.

Political appointments make the House plan—and any future insurance exchange users—too vulnerable to the "winds of political change," Halverson said. The legislator said she preferred an exchange board with greater room for health insurance industry experts.

"We’re going to need a broad group of stakeholders to be brought in," Halverson said. "That, to me, would create more balance and longer-term stability in the exchange."

Correction: The subhead of this article has been changed to correct an inaccuracy. Rep. Laurie Halverson (DFL) represents House District 51B.

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