Agreement includes provision that allows Minnesota to maintain its waiver while still receiving funding for MinnesotaCare 

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) today released the below statement on the bipartisan healthcare agreement reached between Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA). The agreement includes a provision that allows Minnesota to maintain its waiver while still receiving funding for MinnesotaCare. 

“The agreement that has resulted from the bipartisan discussions led by Senators Alexander and Murray is a good step forward, particularly the provision that would include federal funding for Minnesota's Basic Health Program, MinnesotaCare.

“I worked with both Senator Alexander and Murray to ensure that this important provision was included. The provision will encourage the kind of bipartisan work that was done in Minnesota to allow states to apply for waivers. The provision in the bill allows Minnesota to maintain its waiver while still receiving federal funding for MinnesotaCare.  

“What I've heard from people all over Minnesota is that they want bipartisan solutions to fix the Affordable Care Act—and this is part of the solution. 

"Over the past couple months I've participated in the bipartisan discussions held by Senators Alexander and Murray on commonsense solutions to bring down costs, including a meeting with both Republican and Democratic governors, but we can and must do more to help middle-class families. It is long past time for Congress to address the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs—including by passing my bill, which has 33 Senate cosponsors, to lift the ban that makes it illegal for Medicare to negotiate prices for prescription drugs for 41 million American seniors."

In a recent healthcare debate on CNN with three other senators, Klobuchar focused on the bipartisan solutions that are a part of this agreement. 

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