It is in no way perfect, and we will make changes in the future, but once again Minnesota leads the way by adopting one of the nation's most comprehensive reform plans.
Washington should be commended for raising the consciousness about health care at the national level however, we should be very careful not to get overly excited about the prospects of national reform. As the debate continues to take shape, and the President pushes his plan through Congress, I am increasingly concerned with the direction and speed federal health care reform is taking.
In January of 1994 I urged President Clinton and Congress to slow down. As we are already aware in Minnesota, health care reform is something that will take many years to develop, implement and fine tune. If we are going to be successful, we need the federal government to put its efforts on hold while the states continue experimenting with reform. The federal government must allow those states, like Minnesota, which have been leading the way, to complete their work.
We all want real, workable reform that can make a substantial difference in the lives of Americans. Minnesota will continue its work in developing a health care system that is affordable and accessible to all Minnesotans.
Prepared by the Carlson/Benson Volunteer Committee
Wheelock Whitney & Chris Fritsche, Co-Chairs