Gov. Pawlenty's balancing act

Friday afternoon Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced his proposal for balancing the state budget — meaning pulling it out of a $938 million deficit. His plan includes no tax increases; in fact, it cuts 1/8 of the sales tax so that the money can be pumped back into our economy. However, to make the numbers balance, he suggests the Legislature cut nearly $341 million from its program spending and move funds from the budget reserves and from the health care access fund. The highlights of his plan are that it doesn't cut from K to 12 education or local government aid. (He does cut from higher education, though.)

He doesn't want to raise taxes because of the strain that puts on Minnesotans who are already facing economic challenges, he said.

However, his plan is hard on health care. His budget cuts the most from Health and Human Services and asks for $250 million from the health care access fund. The health care access fund supports MinnesotaCare, the program that supplies low-cost health care to Minnesotans who do not have access to affordable health care.

Saturday's Pioneer Press gives a thorough look at what his cuts would mean for Minnesota health care. Something I found particularly interesting: His plan is to get rid of outreach grants to Minnesotans who are eligible for subsidized health care, but don't know how to access it. Because this would mean fewer people would be insured, it would save the state $11 million this year and $55.4 million the two years after.

This strikes me as a serious injustice. Basically, it's saying "Let's not give the resources necessary to help the uninsured to get insured." It's a measure to allow people to stay in the dark and not get the medical care they need. If someone doesn't have insurance, he (or she) is not going to go in for preventative care, like yearly checkups. He's also not going to go to the doctor when something's minor, like a little pain in the knee. He's going to wait until it's unbearable, and the treatment the ailment's going to require is going to be a lot more expensive at that point. Preventative care is the least expensive care, but without insurance, the working poor aren't going to be able to receive it.

It's important to remember that this is Gov. Pawlenty's proposal to the Legislature — it's still up to them to craft the legislation.