UPDATE: Minnesota GOP: What's in the box? NOTHING!! Absolutely NOTHING!!

UPDATE 3/14/17: Dammit, I was afraid of this...

via Lindsey Port (who ran for MN State House last fall):

It's Back!  Okay, folks, it's time to call your legislators, because the Drazkowski bill is back, and the GOP is giving it a full hearing TODAY!

This is the bill that would allow insurance companies to sell policies that do not cover chemotherapy, diabetes treatments, mental health services, maternity care, and many more benefits that are currently required to be covered by MN law.

The photo included is the Minnesota Statute 62Q, which is the statute that is being amended with this bill. These are the services that would be allowed to no longer be covered.

Read the whole press release from Governor Mark Dayton & Lt. Governor Tina Smith here.

(original post from 1/22/17 below):

I've been warning for over a month now that with the ACA poised to be gutted or completely repealed in the near future, the Republican Party's new healthcare buzzword, "universal access" (their attempt to put a spin on "universal coverage") is a huge red flag which should be setting off klaxon alarms for anyone paying attention.

In my latest exclusive for healthinsurance.org, I focus on just one example of this: The GOP-controlled Minnesota state legislature, which just passed a rather nasty bill with profound implications for the type of healthcare policies which people on the individual market could be facing in the near future.

Check it out here.

UPDATE: Well whaddya know?? Read the article at healthinsurance.org first, then come back here for the follow-up:

Day 2 out of government: I watched what happens when politicians get in the way of Americans' access to care. More when its official.

— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) January 24, 2017

What happens when ppl find out that an amendment would allow these services excluded?

The phones lit up & it got pulled an hour ago. 2 pic.twitter.com/6np1A5vO7m

— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) January 24, 2017

Lessons:
-know what "patient choice" means
-take away ACA benefits at your peril
-beware of hidden deals/amendments
-pick up the phone 3 pic.twitter.com/lgQA4AYFlw

— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) January 24, 2017

Thanks to Twitter. Your 000s of RTs & comments & calls got it done.

(I mean this with a couple of clear exceptions. You know who you are.)

— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) January 24, 2017