MINNEAPOLIS, May 14, 2008—Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed a health care reform bill Tuesday that was supported by the MMA and was the product of many months of debate and compromise.

Pawlenty’s main objection to the bill was that it would cost too much without reducing health care expenses, since it would make about 39,000 additional residents eligible for coverage under state programs such as MinnesotaCare.

The bill's author Rep. Thomas Huntley, DFL-Duluth, disagreed and said in news reports Tuesday that the bill would cut expected health-care cost increases by 10 percent to 15 percent in the coming years.

Although the veto could mark the end of health care reform this year, there is still interest among lawmakers and the governor to renegotiate a reform passage that could pass during the session’s final days, said Dave Renner, the MMA’s director of state and federal legislation.

“The governor’s main objection was the cost of the bill. So there is still a chance that reform could pass this year, if lawmakers and the governor can reach a global budget agreement,” Renner said.

There is enough money in the Health Care Access Fund to pay for the proposals in the bill but Pawlenty wants to tap the fund to help plug a budget shortfall.

The session’s constitutional deadline is Monday.

However, Pawlenty did like some parts of the bill. He said in his veto letter to lawmakers that the bill made progress in several areas, including improved transparency of price and quality, advancement of e-prescribing and electronic health records, development of medical homes, care coordination of chronic disease, and the beginning of payment reform to pay doctors for evidence-based, high quality health care. 

On Monday, the House voted 83-50 to approve the measure, and the Senate voted 52-13 to approve the bill. 

After the bill passed, the MMA sent out a press release urging Pawlenty to sign the bill.