April 6, 2010: The National Academy for State Health Policy and the Commonwealth Fund have released a report exploring Minnesota's efforts to transform its health care delivery system. The report-"Reforming Health Care Delivery through Payment Change and Transparency: Minnesota's Innovations"-analyzes the state's landmark health reform legislation (passed in 2008) along with the many public and private initiatives that preceded its passage. In particular, the report focuses on the legislation's provisions related to the collection and reporting of data to achieve price and quality transparency and on the provisions that support care redesign and payment reform.
The authors of the report point out that, while Minnesota has a unique health care environment-with a small uninsured population, a strong base of employer-sponsored insurance, and a history of public-private partnership-the state's experiences with payment and delivery system reform illustrate successes and challenges that are applicable to other states struggling with rising health care costs. Additionally, with federal reform focusing more on questions of coverage and access, mechanisms for payment and delivery system reform need further exploration.