Call your lawmaker!
Protect the Health Care Provider Tax
YOUR VOICE MATTERS!

Please call your State Senator and tell them "Don’t let the sun set on the health care provider tax.” Health and well-being are vital to strong and thriving Minnesota families and communities. Use one or two of the talking points below to craft your personal message, and if you feel comfortable, share your personal story about why this matters to you. Find your Senator here: https://www.gis.leg.mn/iMaps/districts/.

Minnesotans depend on the Health Care Provider Tax.

• Minnesotans should be able to receive the health care they need, when they need it. The health care provider tax is an essential funding source to provide affordable health care to all Minnesotans.
• For more than 25 years, Minnesota’s health care provider tax has been the primary funding source for the Health Care Access Fund, helping Minnesotans get the health care they need, when they need it.
• Today, 1 in 5 Minnesotans have better access to doctors, medications, and the care they need thanks to Medicaid and MinnesotaCare, programs funded by the health care provider tax.
• Without the provider tax, Minnesota faces a $1.3 billion dollar hole in our biennial budget, and the health care of our friends and neighbors is at risk.
• The provider tax is a Minnesota-made solution and an investment in the health of our state.
• The health care provider tax is a time-tested, court-tested, reliable way to fund essential health care services. Now is not the time to slash services, or experiment with unvetted funding sources.

The Senate HHS Omnibus bill passed Tuesday morning (4/30/19) gives us a glimpse of the stark future without the provider tax. Some of the projected savings in the Senate bill are questionable, but the harm they cause will be real. The Senate bill:

• cuts dental, vision, and childcare benefits to low income working families who can’t afford to purchase those services on their own
• cuts off Developmental Disability and Community Access for Disability Inclusion (CADI) waivers and PCA services to people who rely on them
• increases cost sharing significantly for MinnesotaCare enrollees
• arbitrarily caps the Medical Assistance growth trend, meaning inevitable cuts to children and families

My name is [name] and I live at [address]. I am calling to express my support for the provider tax and the Health Care Access Fund. [Add your personal story or a few talking points about why you support maintaining the health care provider tax]. Failing to preserve the provider tax will put at risk the health and well-being of Minnesotans. I hope Senator [X] will work with their colleagues to repeal the sunset of the provider tax and maintain funding for the Health Care Access Fund. Thank you.

Sincerely,

MPHA Policy & Advocacy Committee