What is GAMC?
General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) provides for health care coverage for very poor adults who don’t qualify for other state or federal programs. Most GAMC patients earn less than $2,700 a year. The Minnesota state legislature created this program 33 years ago in order to avoid shifting the cost of care for Minnesota’s poorest citizens to the rest of the state’s health care consumers. Most states followed Minnesota’s lead and now have similar programs.
But Minnesota’s program has been eliminated. In the final days of the 2009 session, Governor Pawlenty and our state legislators couldn’t agree on a solution to the budget deficit, so the governor cut GAMC. However, by law, Minnesota’s hospitals are required to continue to care for people who are enrolled in GAMC. Two hospitals care for 65 percent of these patients – Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis and Regions Hospital in St. Paul. On top of that, these two hospitals absorb the most uncompensated care in Minnesota.
Hospitals don’t want to turn patients away. And, with GAMC patients, they can’t by law. But those hospitals that care for a disproportionate number of GAMC patients, such as HCMC and Regions, also can’t afford to care for them for free. Regrettably, hospitals face two options. The first is to pass those costs on to other health care consumers. This goes against everything we are doing to hold down the cost of premiums and co-pays. The second option is to cut services. These include critical services such as adult and pediatric trauma centers, burn center and disaster center among many others that aren’t available at all hospitals. This, too, is difficult to stomach. Where will Minnesotans go if they have a major car accident, get hit by a tornado, or if the Twin Cities came under a bioterrorism attack during a Wild game?
We don’t want to shift costs or cut services. Neither do the great majority of Minnesotans, regardless of their political affiliation. The state’s poorest residents will lose their health care coverage on April 1 if nothing is done. We have no time to lose; we must fix this now.