Urban hospitals cringe as cuts loom

With close-cropped graying hair, round eyeglasses and a penchant for bowties, Dr.

[gtVoyageur]

Health care in Minnesota is at the point of crumbling, collapsing, and crushing itself and the patients within the system. Cutting crucial services and/or essential treatments at the state's two major public hospitals due lack of funding is going to kill patients or cause needless deaths. Here are some suggestions to save the health care system and the state.

Minnesota is in a state fiscal crises and Governor Pawlenty is up the proverbial raging river rapids of financial default without any paddle or long range survival plan. The time has come to get real and face reality. State government has to be reformed and rebuilt for the future. Malicious and strident state 'politics as usual' is going to cause harm and grief to MN's citizens.

Along with state government being reformed and rebuilt, comes tax reform and equitable progressive taxation. In order to balance the state's budget sound proactive financial planning and accountability principles must be instituted. To maintain a balanced budget,'every' MN taxpayer pays their fair share of income taxes. The burden of taxes must be shared equitably across the economic income spectrum.

Increase the state sales tax to 7% percent across the board. Streamline and reform how the state sales tax is applied equitably. This will provide needed revenue for the general fund.

Reform and streamlining of all state departments and administrative agencies for efficiency and services delivery should be the goal of all.

Also, the MN Congressional delegation should be constantly fighting for Federal funds for MN. I am not talking about pet earmarks but project funds for various state projects etc.. Minnesota deserves its fair share of federal funding.

All income taxes goes in to the General Fund for distribution through out the budgets. All departmental fees and dedicated state Constitutional mandated funds go to the departments or agencies involved. These funds are not met to be in the general fund.

When it comes to health care, everyone who pays state income taxes pays into a MN health care fund. This medical fund is for emergency or dire purposes only. If the citizen can afford health care insurance, fine, but when unemployed or when general assistance is required basic care etc. can be provided. State employees should be contributing to their health insurance coverage on a group rate[or whatever] like many businesses do. Thus, releasing the added burden of inflationary costs.

I could go on but this state needs to get on the proverbial ship of fiscal stability. Forget the insane politics and squabbling and fix state government. It isn't going to be easy but it has to be done.

Governor Pawlenty, with all due respect, forget the milquetoast approach and politics of governing you have espoused over the past few years. We need bold, courageous, and innovating leadership to guide us through the economic crises we all face.

You are a Minnesotan first and foremost not a Washington style bureaucrat. What you succeed in doing to resurrect this state out of the ashes of impending doom is going to be your legacy for your political future. Be bold. Be Minnesotan. Lead this to the greatness it deserves.

[Mr Secant]

I can see the government hating, Republican Pawlentys' point on this one, their is no money to support keeping people alive but give me a sports stadium to fund and the money is there!

[Mary Walters]

Hospital administrators; Nelson, Belzer and Abrahamsen should cut their millions in salaries and bonuses before freezing the 20 cents given to Union workers every year.

[Peter]

gtVoyageur wrote:

Here are some suggestions to save the health care system and the state.
Minnesota is in a state fiscal crises... comes tax reform and equitable progressive taxation...'every' MN taxpayer pays their fair share of income taxes. The burden of taxes must be shared equitably across the economic income spectrum.

You raise some thoughtful points. But when you say "every" and "across the economic income spectrum", I wonder what you mean. Is this just a way of calling for a another tax increase on higher income people? Or do you mean that the state is accumulating too many people that pay little or nothing?

On anyone's list of fixing healthcare or the budget should be addressing the increasing supply of poor people. Want to help healthcare? Aggressively end sanctuary and actively resist further resettlement of skill-free impoverished refugees. MN has a natural advantage of a poverty rate 1/3 less than the national average. As that goes away, healthcare and the budget will get a lot worse. And once it's gone, you'll never get it back.

Build the tax base, not the tax consumers. Become more friendly to high value added businesses and individuals. Keep pounding them with ever increasing regulation and taxation and everything gets worse as the tax base fades (and the tax users keep growing).

[Bob the Bilderberg]

Wow. In a 35-paragraph article on the skyrocketing costs at government hospitals, not one mention of the impact on those costs by the flood of illegal aliens. The next time you read an article on the skyrocketing costs of public education, see if they mention the role of illegals in that one too.

The same people who have been encouraging illegals to come here and evade eviction should be the ones who now admit that THEY are the cause of the budget problem, not the taxpayers or the republican governor who has to deal with your stupidity.

[Bill]

A few facts from the NY Times on 3/29/09.-
The OB staff at HCMC is now almost all female due to Somali women objecting to male staff. HCMC spends $100 million per year caring for foreign-born (both legal and ilegal), and $3 Million per year on interpreters. In the last 3 years 100 Somali-run home health agencies have started. Originally meant to keep people out of nursing homes they send people with conditions like diabetes into the Drs. to get approved for help. They did not put a value on this percieved abuse in the story. I recommend reading the full story. NY Times is quite liberal.

[Facing Facts]

Here's the deal no one wants to talk about. Go to any one of these hospitals and they are filled, yes filled with the jobless, Somalians, illegal immigrants, welfare moms to be etc? It is out of control and we as taxpayers cannot and should not continue to fund this. This is exactly what you get when you have FREE healthcare. You think this is only happening here? Think again. It is widespread. Do you want Universal Healthcare? It would skyrocket this figure to unobtainable levels that would make this scenario seem fine. And this in only the healthcare end of it. The housing, the food stamps, the transportation etc that is all part of MN giveaway programs is eating up the budget. One person who blogged on this said raise the sales tax to 7%. Do you think that will help? Get freaking clue, it will only allow for govt to "give that away" as well and then what? 8% and then what 9%???? You can't keep giving our tax dollar away it has to stop. Enough already. Make people PAY their way or forever find yourselves in this same position. MN nice should not mean MN FREE. Just dumb to think that way. Enough, Enough Enough.

[Facing Facts]

Bob the Bilderberg wrote:

Wow. In a 35-paragraph article on the skyrocketing costs at government hospitals, not one mention of the impact on those costs by the flood of illegal aliens. The next time you read an article on the skyrocketing costs of public education, see if they mention the role of illegals in that one too.
The same people who have been encouraging illegals to come here and evade eviction should be the ones who now admit that THEY are the cause of the budget problem, not the taxpayers or the republican governor who has to deal with your stupidity.

Nice thing is to know that a lot of the illegals voted thanks to our sanctuary anything goes mentality here. Coleman is NOT the candidate of choice of illegals. So you can thank an illegal for this mess as well. Enough, enforce laws or don't have any.

[Health Care Worker]

Facing Facts wrote:

Here's the deal no one wants to talk about. Go to any one of these hospitals and they are filled, yes filled with the jobless, Somalians, illegal immigrants, welfare moms to be etc? It is out of control and we as taxpayers cannot and should not continue to fund this. This is exactly what you get when you have FREE healthcare. You think this is only happening here? Think again. It is widespread. Do you want Universal Healthcare? It would skyrocket this figure to unobtainable levels that would make this scenario seem fine. And this in only the healthcare end of it. The housing, the food stamps, the transportation etc that is all part of MN giveaway programs is eating up the budget. One person who blogged on this said raise the sales tax to 7%. Do you think that will help? Get freaking clue, it will only allow for govt to "give that away" as well and then what? 8% and then what 9%???? You can't keep giving our tax dollar away it has to stop. Enough already. Make people PAY their way or forever find yourselves in this same position. MN nice should not mean MN FREE. Just dumb to think that way. Enough, Enough Enough.

You are SO right. I see this every day and it makes me want to scream.

[West Sider]

It's time for the Paramedics to start hauling the paitents without insurance to the hospitals in the suburbs. Once done with treatment, they would be left wondering the streets in those suburban communities creating the problems that the core city police, fire and medical services deal with on a daily basis. In every suburb we should open a homeless shelter and then designate a couple of city parks for them to hang out at. Why stop there, while were at it let's open a small detox (drunk tank) and a corner to pan handle at. Yep, it's time for the suburbs to start sharing the social issues.

[Former McDowell Resident]

Peter wrote:

<quoted text>
You raise some thoughtful points. But when you say "every" and "across the economic income spectrum", I wonder what you mean. Is this just a way of calling for a another tax increase on higher income people? Or do you mean that the state is accumulating too many people that pay little or nothing?
On anyone's list of fixing healthcare or the budget should be addressing the increasing supply of poor people. Want to help healthcare? Aggressively end sanctuary and actively resist further resettlement of skill-free impoverished refugees. MN has a natural advantage of a poverty rate 1/3 less than the national average. As that goes away, healthcare and the budget will get a lot worse. And once it's gone, you'll never get it back.
Build the tax base, not the tax consumers. Become more friendly to high value added businesses and individuals. Keep pounding them with ever increasing regulation and taxation and everything gets worse as the tax base fades (and the tax users keep growing).

Peter, Progressive taxation is code word meaning that those who earn more will pay more in taxes as our federal government does with income taxes. So, where it leads us to in the end is socialism at best and economic fascism at worst. Either way, the result isn't good.

[Peter]

Former McDowell Resident wrote:

<quoted text>Peter, Progressive taxation is code word meaning that those who earn more will pay more in taxes as our federal government does with income taxes. So, where it leads us to in the end is socialism at best and economic fascism at worst. Either way, the result isn't good.

Funny thing is that even with a flat tax, those that earn more pay more. But, of course, our liberal friends' goal isn't to have people pay more, the goal is to have them pay A LOT more (but then wonder why they leave).

I just want my government to stop making things worse and for liberals to develop a sense of cause and effect. Flooding the country with poor people leaves us with more poor people. Poor people, ya know, can't afford healthcare. Liberals will criticize opponents of mass immigration of poor people all day, but then turn right around with a sense of true bewilderment when healthcare gets worse.

[Suburban Mom]

This is ridiculous! I am a (now ex-) Pawlenty backer and want my vote and my portion of taxes that go to him and his administration back! Is Minnesota turning into the loser of the Republican party nominees? First we have Bachmann making us look like some backwater state and now Pawlenty - I mean really, Do I now need to be embarrassed that I come from what used to be an intellectual state.

This is the best option Pawlenty had? It looks like he took the easiest route so that he could go on vacation. Yes, we need cuts. Yes, these cuts could be made in healthcare, but come on. Tell me someone on his high-paid team could come up with something like sharing the number of charity cases seen amongst all hospitals or putting an amount into a fund that hospitals that aren't doing their fair share need to contribute to.

My family goes to Woodwinds. It's clean and nice and quick. I pay more because it's out of my network - but I can guarantee that they don't take anywhere near the percent of the charity cases that these hospitals are taking and so aren't many others that are much larger and closer to these hospitals.

[Hillary]

It's from illeagle immigrants not paying their bills. It's the DFLs fault. They are out to sink our great country.

[TTy]

Suburban Mom wrote:

This is ridiculous! I am a (now ex-) Pawlenty backer and want my vote and my portion of taxes that go to him and his administration back! Is Minnesota turning into the loser of the Republican party nominees? First we have Bachmann making us look like some backwater state and now Pawlenty - I mean really, Do I now need to be embarrassed that I come from what used to be an intellectual state.
This is the best option Pawlenty had? It looks like he took the easiest route so that he could go on vacation. Yes, we need cuts. Yes, these cuts could be made in healthcare, but come on. Tell me someone on his high-paid team could come up with something like sharing the number of charity cases seen amongst all hospitals or putting an amount into a fund that hospitals that aren't doing their fair share need to contribute to.
My family goes to Woodwinds. It's clean and nice and quick. I pay more because it's out of my network - but I can guarantee that they don't take anywhere near the percent of the charity cases that these hospitals are taking and so aren't many others that are much larger and closer to these hospitals.

Shet ep Knucklehead..get a clue.

[Former McDowell Resident]

Peter wrote:

<quoted text>
Funny thing is that even with a flat tax, those that earn more pay more. But, of course, our liberal friends' goal isn't to have people pay more, the goal is to have them pay A LOT more (but then wonder why they leave).
I just want my government to stop making things worse and for liberals to develop a sense of cause and effect. Flooding the country with poor people leaves us with more poor people. Poor people, ya know, can't afford healthcare. Liberals will criticize opponents of mass immigration of poor people all day, but then turn right around with a sense of true bewilderment when healthcare gets worse.

No disagreement there.

For Suburban Mom, For some reason after reading your post, I seriously doubt that you were ever a Pawlenty supporter.

[Mellers]

Hillary wrote:

It's from illeagle immigrants not paying their bills. It's the DFLs fault. They are out to sink our great country.

If you desire to blame the Dems so much, what have the Republicans done lately to fix the problem?

The issue is non-partisan, not an issue for one side or the other. Division never works.

[Suburban Mom]

Former McDowell Resident wrote:

<quoted text>No disagreement there.
For Suburban Mom, For some reason after reading your post, I seriously doubt that you were ever a Pawlenty supporter.

Unfortunately enough, yes. I was a Pawlenty supporter - Happily, never a Bachmann one. I still think people in business are paid to come up with unique ideas, not ones that are just the easiest. We're paying them for time and ideas. Government is a business and a very large one.

[mom in cottage grove]

Bob the Bilderberg wrote:

Wow. In a 35-paragraph article on the skyrocketing costs at government hospitals, not one mention of the impact on those costs by the flood of illegal aliens. The next time you read an article on the skyrocketing costs of public education, see if they mention the role of illegals in that one too.
The same people who have been encouraging illegals to come here and evade eviction should be the ones who now admit that THEY are the cause of the budget problem, not the taxpayers or the republican governor who has to deal with your stupidity.

I work @ 1 of the hospitals mentioned here-and if people only new the amount of money being spent, or rather the percentage of uncompensated care that is the result of illegal's they would be up in arms. 1st step is to only allow babies born to US citizens to be citizens-not these women, who come as far away as africa-and do thus multiple times with no intention of staying in this country-who come here to deliver their babies, with no intention of ever paying their hospital bill-they stay until they get the birth cert & ss# and go back home-but now the baby is a citizen because it was born here-it would also stop all these mom's in border cities from crossing in to US just do baby is a citizen-it is insane

[Suburban Mom]

It's amazing the amount of hatred that can be felt from some of these posts. Some even work in these hospitals! I would hate to be a patient there if they found out something about me they didn't like.

People, this is NOT about your personal beliefs. This is about a business - our state Government - and its lack of ideas to fix a situation that needs to be fixed asap due to budget concerns. Quit taking it personally and start thinking in terms of a business that needs its budget revamped - You can work out the other issues at another time or in therapy.