Minnesota

Local View: Klobuchar owes Minnesota seniors visible actions on health reforms

Published

2 years ago

July 1, 2024

Local View: Klobuchar owes Minnesota seniors visible actions on health reforms

Politicians projecting an image of themselves that’s not entirely accurate is nothing new. Try as she does with her always-on media presence, Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is apparently no different. This seems especially true when it comes to health care programs older Minnesotans rely on and reigning in large integrated corporations. This seems doubly evident when it comes to how President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act relates to the business practices of Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group.

Sen. Klobuchar misses few opportunities to tout her support, if not ownership, of the federal spending bill’s changes to Medicare. She and other progressives in Washington, D.C., promised it would drive down consumer prices and lower drug costs for seniors in Medicare. Despite such statements, it hasn’t worked out that way.

Not at all, actually. A full year after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act,

polling

by the D.C. nonprofit

American Commitment

showed nearly 85% of older Americans said prices for goods and services had gone up, not down. Less than 11% said the costs of their prescription drugs had decreased. All told, nearly 80% viewed the costly legislation as a “failure.” Just ask older Minnesotans if their drug costs have gone up or down. Then ask the same about their Medicare premiums and out-of-pocket expenses. What they’re seeing with their own eyes does not comport with what Biden and Klobuchar are trying to sell us.

Klobuchar also fails to stress what few seniors probably know, that buried in the bill’s small print were provisions to immediately

divert more than $250 billion

in projected Medicare drug savings to other spending measures. This included billions in large subsidies paid to big insurers, tax credits for electric-vehicle buyers, and other questionable handouts unrelated to the Medicare program — largely doled out before the ink was dry.

Big insurers will also benefit from new government price controls that lower the costs of medicines they have to cover. Meanwhile, most of the drug pricing “savings” provisions sold to seniors had delayed, years-long implementation schedules.

Making matters worse, since passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, older Americans in Medicare Advantage have been socked with skyrocketing premiums and out-of-pocket costs imposed by big insurers and their pharmacy benefit manager middlemen. Then add

recent drug shortages

and warnings of new potential patient access restrictions — and

allegations of insurers overcharging Medicare billions

and

using AI to deny patients

care — and it seems clear our health care problems are likely getting worse.

Yet, even as these troubling issues and critical accountability measures have emerged, including bipartisan reforms to prevent big insurers and pharmacy benefit managers from pocketing massive drug-price rebates rather than passing them on to patients, Klobuchar has been largely AWOL. The same goes for conducting oversight on the handful of giant integrated health care conglomerates, including UHG, that control so much of the system. The latter is especially noteworthy considering she chairs the powerful Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee and is in a great position to do so.

Nowhere has there been more consolidation than in the health care industry, a massive sector of our economy that impacts nearly every citizen and consumer, young and old. Through acquisitions and a little help from government entitlement programs like Medicare and Obamacare, UHG has grown to be one of the biggest corporations in the world. In addition to being the biggest provider of Medicare Advantage plans,

it also owns

some of America’s largest pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacies, surgical centers, physician practices, surgical centers, and large home health companies, earning it north of $370 billion last year.

Additionally, UHG maintains a financial partnership with the supposed seniors’ advocate AARP, one that has now paid the organization over

$8 billion

in royalties and fees. The AARP, too, is notably quiet in calling for reforms for big insurers and pharmacy benefit managers.

Much of this came into play just a few weeks ago in Washington when Congress examined the far-reaching structure and practices of UHG in relation to the systemic cyberattack on health IT giant Change Healthcare. Even as Democrats, Republicans, the

U.S. Department of Justice

, and other agencies busily call out the potential threats such integrated health cartels pose, Klobuchar, along with the well-funded AARP, remain curiously inactive.

While some might not fault Klobuchar for having loyalty to the president or a large home-state employer, the glaring discrepancies between what she says, what she does, and what she seems to willfully ignore — when two of her supposedly signature reform issues collide — are cause for great concern. Older Minnesotans now expect visible action, and Sen. Klobuchar owes them no less.

Bob Johnson of The Villages, Florida, is a retired Minnesota trade association executive and the former president of the

Insurance Federation of Minnesota

(insurancefederation.org). He serves as an advisor to

Commitment to Seniors

(commitmenttoseniors.org), a project of

American Commitment

(americancommitment.org), a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., that’s critical of AARP.

Bob Johnson

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Minnesota

Dennis Peterson

Published

7 hours ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

With family by his side, Dennis “Bud” Peterson went to be with the Lord on the morning of June 1, 2026.

He was born at Drake, North Dakota on April 2, 1932 in the home of his parents Nick and Helen Peterson. The family moved to Duluth at the beginning of World War II.

After graduation from Duluth Central High School Bud served in the US Army in Korea during the Korean War, and received an Honorable Discharge with the rank of Sergeant. He used his GI Bill benefits to attend UMD receiving an Associate Degree, and also earned his Commercial Instrument Pilot rating.

Bud was a longtime employee of St. Louis County retiring as Supervisor of Roads and Bridges. In retirement he served as Boiler Engineer and a do it all repairman for Duluth Gospel Tabernacle. He generously devoted his time and talents as a consummate do it yourself repairman to all of his family.

Dennis is preceded in death by his parents, Nick & Helen Peterson; brother, Robert Peterson; sister, June (Don) Kruger; and infant brother and sister, James and Delores Peterson.

He is survived by his sister, Carol (Eli) Miletich; and numerous nieces and nephews all of whom he loved dearly.

At Bud’s request, his family will be holding a private funeral service. Arrangements by Dougherty Funeral Home 218-727-3555.

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Minnesota

Medical services in limbo for thousands of providers amid Minnesota fraud crisis

Published

17 hours ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

Medical services in limbo for thousands of providers amid Minnesota fraud crisis

The Minnesota Department of Human Services is reexamining over 5,000 Medicaid service providers across the state in an effort to combat fraud.

The federal government said it would pull $2 billion in annual Medicaid funding from Minnesota in January if the state didn’t make changes.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services set out to revalidate thousands of providers in programs deemed high risk for fraud by asking providers to submit verification paperwork and making unannounced site visits. The deadline passed on Sunday.

The latest data, published on May 27, shows 1,009 providers approved, 1,151 disenrolled and over 3,000 providers with pending applications.

Paige Berland and Camille Heyman run Minnesota Behavioral Specialists, providing autism care to children through two locations in the metro area. The women say that after submitting their paperwork, they received letters from DHS with determinations for both locations: the Bloomington center was terminated and the Eagan office was approved.

“It doesn’t make sense, everything is the same minus the location,” Berland said. “So why was one approved and one wasn’t approved?”

The termination letter said the Bloomington center was denied because they failed to disclose a managing employee during a site visit. Berland disputes that and said she already submitted an appeal.

“We were told to keep running, keep continuing as we are while we go through this process,” she said. “It just means that we don’t have the money coming in.”

Josh Berg with Accessible Space says they’re also in limbo. Berg said they offer integrated community supports, which means caretakers provide in-unit assistance for people with spinal cord injuries and disabilities.

“Most of the folks that we support are wheelchair-bound,” Berg said. “Helping with meals, helping with medications, helping them just live their lives.”

Berg said that of the seven locations where people are housed, the Department of Human Services terminated five and approved two. He believes the timeline to conduct this revalidation process was too aggressive. He said Accessible Space has also submitted an appeal.

“We’re not able to bill for services, we’re not able to start new services for anybody or change any of the supports that they receive,” he said.

Both Berg and Berland say they agree fraud needs to be dealt with, but they hope Minnesotans who truly need services aren’t left without the services they need.

“Not just the clients rely on services, but the families do too, so we can’t stop services; that’s not an option on our plate,” Berland said. “We want to continue to provide these services; they are medically necessary.”

The Minnesota Department of Human Services said a disenrollment letter could be sent for a few reasons, including failure to submit revalidation application after two notification attempts, failure to provide all requested documents within the required timeframe and failure to meet the criteria required during an on-site visit.

A spokesperson for the Department of Human Services said it’s currently in the process of compiling data from the thousands of applications, but didn’t say when the department would share those final numbers.

In:

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Minnesota

Minnesota GOP disavows Chauvin moment of silence at convention

Published

1 day ago

June 2, 2026

Press Room

Minnesota GOP disavows Chauvin moment of silence at convention

The Minnesota Republican Party is distancing itself from a moment of silence held for Derek Chauvin during its state convention, saying the gesture was not part of leadership planning, not included in the official program, and should not be interpreted as a party position.

GOP officials said in a Monday, June 1 Facebook post that the recognition of the former Minneapolis police officer, who was convicted in the killing of George Floyd in 2020, emerged from a spontaneous delegate motion on the convention floor and was not initiated or endorsed by leadership.

The controversy quickly escalated after state leaders, civil rights attorneys and Democratic lawmakers condemned the action, describing it as deeply harmful to Floyd’s family and inconsistent with accountability under the law.

The moment of silence took place during the party’s annual gathering in Duluth on May 30 and comes just days after the sixth anniversary of Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, an event that reshaped national debates over policing and racial justice.

Republican Party of Minnesota says gesture was not leadership action

In a statement, the Republican Party of Minnesota said the recognition of Derek Chauvin originated as a delegate request during floor proceedings at the convention in Duluth and was handled under standard rules of order.

Party officials emphasized that convention leadership, including chair Danny Nadeau, did not propose the motion. The statement said leadership’s role was procedural only, and that presiding over the motion did not reflect agreement with or endorsement of its subject matter.

Officials reiterated that the convention agenda itself did not include any planned recognition of Chauvin and said the episode should not be interpreted as a leadership-driven decision or policy stance.

Minnesota attorney general calls action ‘profound cruelty’

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who led the prosecution of Chauvin, sharply criticized the gesture, calling it an “act of profound cruelty” toward the Floyd family.

Ellison said the timing, so close to the anniversary of Floyd’s death, compounded the harm.

He said honoring Chauvin “dishonors the memory of George Floyd and wounds his loved ones all over again,” and called it “disturbing” to recognize someone convicted of violating his oath as a police officer.

Ellison also said the action was “disrespectful” to law enforcement officers who serve honorably, and reaffirmed that courts had already upheld Chauvin’s conviction through multiple appeals.

Broader backlash and political fallout

Democratic state Rep. Jamie Long called the moment of silence “disgusting,” arguing that Republicans chose to honor a convicted murderer rather than victims of violence or service members.

The gesture also drew criticism from civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, who represented George Floyd’s family in its civil case after his death. The attorneys called the moment of silence immoral and demanded a retraction and apology, saying it disrespected both the Floyd family and the broader public record of Chauvin’s conviction.

Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020, when Chauvin, a white former Minneapolis police officer, knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. Chauvin was later convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, and sentenced to 22½ years in state prison.

The killing sparked global protests and became a defining moment in the Black Lives Matter movement and debates over policing in the United States.

Chauvin’s conviction has been upheld through multiple appeals, including a denial by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023, and he is serving his sentence in federal custody.

Party officials say despite the controversy, their focus remains on candidate endorsements and upcoming elections, not the floor action that triggered the backlash.

Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@usatodayco.com, or on X @athompsonUSAT.

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