Minnesota Governor Issues Executive Order for Health Plans to Disclose Financials

Roughly 500,000 Minnesotans receive public health insurance and are enrolled in managed care. This costs Minnesota $3 billion annually. Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton issued an executive order on March 23 that would force all health plans operating publicly in the state to disclose profits, reserves, and administrative costs for state contracts. This public disclosure is intended to help make the health insurance companies accountable to the tax payers. The state will also begin a competitive bidding process for state health care contracts that is intended to be focused more on outcomes rather than on procedures. The Governor’s intention is that these actions will bring down the cost of health care which is one of the state’s fastest growing expenditures.