625 Robert Street North St. Paul, MN 55115
ENABLING LEGISLATION Enabled: 05-24-2023 Revisor of Statutes Link
Members will include representatives of:
Employers and business groups and employer associations
Consumer and patient advocates
Other purchasers and people negotiating the purchase of health care (e.g., union representatives and others)
Health policy experts, including people with expertise in health economics, health care financing, rural health care financing, and hospital financing
All appointed members must have knowledge and demonstrated expertise in one or more of the following areas: health care finance, health economics, health care management or administration at a senior level, health care consumer advocacy based on professional or personal experience, purchasing health care insurance as a health benefits administrator, health plan company administration, public or population health, or addressing health disparities and structural inequities.
No member may be a current employee of a health care provider or payer/insurer organization. Former employees of providers or payers are eligible if they are not currently employed in those roles and can bring independent expertise. A separate task force will be convened later in 2025 to engage current provider and payer leaders in reviewing health care spending data, identifying solutions, and providing input on potential cost growth reduction policies.
To the greatest extent possible, Task Force members shall represent the geographic, ethnic, gender, racial, and economic diversity of Minnesota.
COMPENSATION
MEMBERSHIP DETAILS
The Task Force will explore drivers of health care spending and affordability challenges, evaluate policy options to reduce costs, and make recommendations to MDH and the Center for Health Care Affordability. Specifically the task force will:
Analyze spending trends: Review and understand cost growth trends reported by MDH to advise the Center and to inform the Minnesota legislature and the public on the impact of rising health care costs.
Explore cost drivers: Advise MDH on additional data or analyses needed to understand cost growth drivers and identify potential strategies for slowing cost growth.
Evaluate strategic options: Advise MDH on potential affordability strategies to pursue, providing guidance on benefits and trade-offs.
Recommend actionable solutions: Develop and recommend evidence-based strategies to slow cost growth and improve affordability, ensuring that access, quality, and equity are not compromised.
Support public engagement and transparency: Support the Center’s public reporting and engagement efforts, including the Center’s annual reporting and at least one public hearing per year.
The Center for Health Care Affordability may charge the Health Care Affordability Advisory Task Force with other related responsibilities over time.
ACTIVITY SUMMARY
During the 2023 Minnesota Legislative Session, the legislature directed the commissioner of health to establish (Laws of Minnesota 2023, Chapter 70, Article 16; https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2023/0/70/) a Center for Health Care Affordability ("the Center") at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). The Center's purpose is to conduct targeted analysis of the drivers of health care spending, engage with the public, and convene advisory bodies, all in an effort to identify and advance strategies that improve health care affordability.
The Center is convening two advisory task forces that will work in complementary roles to recommend strategies to reduce cost growth and improve health care affordability:
The Health Care Affordability Advisory Task Force, made up of patient advocates, employers, health care purchasers, and health policy experts, will develop policy recommendations and affordability initiatives grounded in the experiences and needs of those accessing and paying for health care.
The Center’s Provider and Payer Advisory Task Force will play a crucial role in shaping and informing those strategies by offering insights into delivery system dynamics, operational realities, and potential impacts and dependencies, as well as elevating promising innovations that promote value and efficiency.
As part of their work, members of the Health Care Affordability Advisory Task Force will provide input on the Center’s reports on health care affordability and support the Center’s efforts to convene at least annual public meetings for Minnesotans to discuss health care affordability challenges and solutions.
Meetings are held at: Minnesota Department of Health or Twin Cities-based location. Some meetings will be conducted in person with a hybrid option and some meetings will be held in a virtual only mode. Members are encouraged to attend in person if possible when meetings involve a hybrid option.
Expenses Description: