Despite the fact that GAMC will still provide coverage to many Minnesotans, it will ultimately prevent the eligibility requirements of MinnesotaCare to tighten, I think it is time for Minnesota to take a serious look at the current eligibility requirements of MinnesotaCare in order to understand how many people it actually prevents from receiving health insurance.

As it stands now, Minnesotans are not eligible to apply for MinnesotaCare unless they have been without insurance for four months.

This means Minnesotans who have had health insurance must have a gap in health insurance and services for four months. For many Minnesotans, going even a week without health insurance can be physically and financially devastating. This gap in services must be changed in order to provide continuous coverage to Minnesotans, especially those with chronic health conditions.

While it is clear that Minnesota is struggling financially across the board, I think this is one policy to which Minnesota should pay attention. Please contact your legislator to support changing the MinnesotaCare eligibility requirements to eliminate the gap in health care coverage. Many Minnesotans need this policy to be revised in order to obtain affordable health care coverage. Let’s change the way health care is delivered here in Minnesota. We all have the power to make this change possible. For according to President Obama, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

Melissa Haugh

Easton