Gruenhagen speaks on ‘health care crisis’
State Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen spoke on “health care in crisis” on Tuesday night, June 9, at a meeting of the Greater Minnesota Republican Women group.
Gruenhagen discussed the issues he sees with the state’s government-controlled health care program, Minnesota Health Insurance Exchange, also known as MNsure.
Gruenhagen said the program is just too expensive. Though the government will pay 90 percent of the costs for the first few years, he said he believes that funding will not last.
“They (the federal government) give you money to start a program, but once you crawl out on a branch and start it, guess what they do? They cut the funding,” he said.
At the national level, the Affordable Care Act has already exceeded its original budget. Gruenhagen said it was supposed to cost $969 billion for the first 10 years, but a new report by the Congressional Budget Office shows the total will be almost $2 trillion.
“That was a little low,” he said. “We are spending $50,000 tax dollars for every person we’re signing up for health insurance.”
Gruenhagen said the program also promotes poor family values, as married couples receive lower subsidies than couples who are not married.
“We are subsidizing immorality and out-of-wedlock births,” he said.
For more, see the June 17 print edition of The Chronicle.