1.1                             A resolution 
  1.2             memorializing the Center for Medicaid and Medicare 
  1.3             services to designate the state of Minnesota as a 
  1.4             single-state region under the Medicare Modernization 
  1.5             Act.  
  1.6      BE IT RESOLVED, by the Legislature of the State of 
  1.7   Minnesota: 
  1.8      WHEREAS, the recently passed Medicare Modernization Act 
  1.9   (MMA) has the potential to significantly impact the choices 
  1.10  Minnesota seniors have in supplementing their Medicare coverage 
  1.11  beginning in 2006; and 
  1.12     WHEREAS, the MMA will divide the country into ten to 50 
  1.13  regions in which preferred provider organization (PPO) health 
  1.14  plans will compete to provide supplemental coverage to Medicare 
  1.15  members; and 
  1.16     WHEREAS, the MMA provides the regional and national PPO 
  1.17  health plans with significant financial advantages, including 
  1.18  bonus payments, and other financial protections, such as risk 
  1.19  sharing with the federal government, that are not permitted for 
  1.20  local state-based health plans; and 
  1.21     WHEREAS, local state-based health plans may continue to 
  1.22  compete in Minnesota but, without single-state regional PPO 
  1.23  designation, they would not be eligible for these financial 
  1.24  advantages and protections; and 
  1.25     WHEREAS, these local state-based health plans have provided 
  2.1   popular options for Minnesota seniors for many years despite the 
  2.2   challenges of chronic underfunding by the federal government; 
  2.3   and 
  2.4      WHEREAS, 90,000 Minnesota seniors today have Medicare 
  2.5   health maintenance organization (HMO) coverage through 
  2.6   Minnesota-based health plans that have remained committed to the 
  2.7   program despite this inequitable funding from the federal 
  2.8   government; and 
  2.9      WHEREAS, 30 percent of Minnesota seniors with supplemental 
  2.10  Medigap coverage are already in a PPO plan that is consistent 
  2.11  with the plan design that forms the basis for the new 
  2.12  legislation and the designation of regions; and 
  2.13     WHEREAS, 35 percent of Minnesota seniors with supplemental 
  2.14  Medigap coverage already have prescription drug coverage 
  2.15  compared to a national average of nine percent; and 
  2.16     WHEREAS, Minnesota seniors should be able to continue to 
  2.17  choose from the options that are available to them today as well 
  2.18  as the new options that are created by the MMA; and 
  2.19     WHEREAS, this preservation of options can best be achieved 
  2.20  through the designation by the Center for Medicaid and Medicare 
  2.21  Services (CMS) of Minnesota as a single-state PPO region; NOW 
  2.22  THEREFORE, 
  2.23     BE IT RESOLVED that the Minnesota legislature petition the 
  2.24  CMS for designation of Minnesota as a single-state region under 
  2.25  the MMA.  
  2.26     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be forwarded to 
  2.27  the Minnesota congressional delegation with the request that 
  2.28  they work diligently with CMS to accomplish this designation 
  2.29  status.