By J. Patrick Coolican | Editor in Chief
Good morning, Reformers,
A huge and thus far undiscussed challenge for the next governor will be the rapid growth of Medicaid spending.
Our health and data beat writer Alyssa Chen reports that “Medical Assistance, the name for Minnesota’s Medicaid, cost $20.3 billion in fiscal year 2025, roughly split between state and federal dollars. The cost is projected to jump to $24 billion for the 2026 fiscal year, which ended in June — costing around $4,100 per every Minnesotan and $20,000 for each of Medicaid’s 1.2 million enrollees.”
So that’s a nearly 20% increase in a single year, and $2 billion more than projected in 2025. Wow.
More stuff to know from Alyssa’s reporting: $4.4 billion is spent on seniors, for whom Medicare — the federal health insurance program for the elderly — doesn’t cover long-term care. Another $8.8 billion cares for people with disabilities. Add them up, and that’s half the program spending.
The next Legislature’s options on the issue are grim: Raise taxes; watch Medicaid eat into other priorities like K-12 education; or figure out a way to rein in Medicaid costs, which could affect providers and their patients/clients.
The federal government will be no help either, as Alyssa reports.
Read and bookmark this one, but more important: Ask your legislative and gubernatorial candidates what they aim to do about it.
(Photo by Getty Images)
By Anna Claire Vollers
A summer of food recalls, including the record-shattering cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce that has sickened thousands, has raised many Americans’ fears of contracting a foodborne illness.
The recalls have focused attention on the Trump administration’s decision to cut funding and staff at several public health agencies, and prompted questions about whether those changes have made consumers more vulnerable.
In fact, this year’s tally of food recalls is roughly in line with the numbers in recent years. About 48 million people each year get sick from a foodborne illness. But experts worry that the scope, severity and scale of outbreaks and their associated food recalls are growing.
By Kevin Hardy
Progressive activist Gaby Goldstein thinks her opponents are brilliant.
Despite her deeply held liberal politics, she admires the work of conservative groups that for decades have built influence in state governments across the country.
“We on the left have left a huge amount of power on the table,” said Goldstein, the founder and president of State Futures, a nonprofit launched last year that coordinates hundreds of Democratic lawmakers across the states.
Few on the right have been as influential as the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. Founded in 1973, ALEC touts over 2,000 lawmakers as members — nearly a quarter of the country’s total state lawmakers. Despite fierce criticism, the organization has made an indelible mark on state policy by pushing hundreds of pieces of model legislation that have reshaped public education, state labor laws and taxation.
“One of the things the right has known for decades is that by moving state policy, you move national policy,” Goldstein said.
IN OTHER NEWS
OH BY THE WAY
Some good news for your Monday morning.
A decade ago I interviewed a 36-year-old person who suffered from cystic fibrosis, when the life expectancy for people with the disease was 38.
But we’ve made tremendous gains with a new treatment. Here’s The Atlantic (gift link):
“In the fall of 2019, a new triple combination of drugs began making its way into the hands of people with the genetic disease. Trikafta corrects the misshapen protein that causes cystic fibrosis; this molecular tweak thins mucus in the lungs so it can be coughed up easily. In a matter of hours, patients who took it began to cough—and cough and cough and cough in what they later started calling the Purge. They hacked up at work, at home, in their car, in bed at night. It’s not that they were sick; if anything, it was the opposite: They were becoming well. In the days that followed, their lungs were cleansed of a tarlike mucus, and the small tasks of daily life that had been so difficult became unthinkingly easy. They ran up the stairs. They ran after their kids. They ran 10Ks. They ran marathons.”
Progress is possible. Have a great day all! JPC
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