Plan offered to break impasse on healthcare in Minnesota

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and state Republican legislative leaders said they have produced a plan to break the impasse over providing health insurance for the state's poorest and sickest residents. To help repair a budget that's $1 billion out of balance, Pawlenty ended Minnesota's General Assistance Medical Care and moved recipients onto a program with less coverage and higher per-person costs. Pawlenty instructed the state Department of Human Services to shift about 32,000 current GAMC clients on April 1 to MinnesotaCare, an insurance program designed for lower-income working people and funded by premiums and a surcharge on healthcare providers and insurers. Legislative Democrats have hinted that GAMC advocates may file suit to block the program's elimination, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.