On Wednesday, March 2, 2022, Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP) member Katie Freeman, MD, testified in support of HF 3696, legislation that will help provide a more complete picture of health care spending in Minnesota.
“We need to capture all the ways that we’re paying for health care to understand how to make our health care system work best for the people it serves and to ensure that we are getting value for our health care spending. Without this data, how do we—policy makers, health care team members and patients—set a vision for a system that works for Minnesotans?”
What will HF 3696/SF 3689 include?
- Require payers to annually submit non-claims, value-based payment data to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).
- Require MDH to report Minnesota’s current claims and non-claims data as well as the state’s investment in primary care.
- Conduct interviews with health plan companies and third-party administrators to better understand the types of non-claims based payments in use and their goals.
What is HF 3696/SF 3689’s purpose?
The aim of HF 3696/SF 3689 is to give policymakers a more clear, comprehensive picture of Minnesota’s health care spending.
Right now, Minnesota only collects claims data through the All-Payer Claims Database, which misses all non-claims based payments, including value-based payments, infrastructure costs, care coordination and other patient support services—all of which are vital to keeping Minnesotans healthy while also addressing health disparities and improving cost efficacy.
We need to understand the full picture of our health care payment system before we can take any steps to make it work best for our state and Minnesotans.
What is the background of HF 3696/SF 3689?
This legislation was developed with input from a broad primary care coalition that includes family physicians, advance practice registered nurses, the Minnesota Department of Health Office of Rural Health and Primary Care, health systems and others.
We know our health care system’s current fee-for-service payment model isn’t working. Health care costs are high and not affordable for many Minnesotans, and primary care—taking care of the whole patient—is not valued or appropriately reimbursed.
Additional Resources
- Measuring Non-Claims-Based Primary Care Spending
- Recommendation Report for Expanded Access to the Minnesota All-Payer Claims Database
How can you help?
Use our Speak Out tool to contact your legislators and urge them to support HF 3696/SF 3689 to better understand health care spending in our state.
You can also search for your legislators via the state’s online directory.
About the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians
Representing more than 3,100 family physicians, family medicine residents and medical students, the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP) is a state chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the largest physician specialty organization in Minnesota. mafp.org