Improving Health Care and Mental Health Services
Two health care related bills unanimously passed the Senate last week – one to license and regulate Pharmacy Benefit Managers and the other to allow direct primary care services between patients and physicians. Senator Scott Jensen, R-Chaska, joins Capitol Report moderator Shannon Loehrke to talk about efforts to bring more transparency and access to health care.
According to Governor Walz’s budget blueprint, his proposed health care reform, ONECare MN, would offer “health coverage options, encourage stability in the individual market, provide consumer choice, address rising health-care costs and improve the health care experience for all Minnesotans.” Senator Matt Klein, DFL-Mendota Heights, is the Senate author of the legislation, and he joins Shannon to talk about the proposal.
Also, The National Alliance on Mental Illness says that one in five adults experiences mental illness in a given year, and a recent Pew Research survey reports that seven in ten teens say anxiety and depression are major problems among their peers. Senator Julie Rosen, R-Vernon Center, talks with Shannon about SF 1, a bill providing different approaches to addressing the problem.