Visit here for information about Minnesota Auditor
Rebecca Otto's run for 2018 Minnesota Governor: https://www.rebeccaotto.com/index
NORTH OAKS- Last weekend, I had a great opportunity to meet Rebecca Otto. She
currently serves as Auditor of Minnesota and is
running for Minnesota Governor. The race has
several interested candidates, and I'm especially
eager to see and hear as many in-person as
possible.
The gathering was held
at a private residence in North Oaks, and even though the
weather was windy and wet, several dozen people turned
out throughout the roughly 2-hour
session.
As
a deciding voter, I greatly appreciated the set-up of the gathering: Otto
discussed her
background and reasons for running for governor
during the first portion of the session, and then
participated in a question-and-answer forum for the
second portion.
Photo
from rebeccaotto.com
https://rebeccaotto.com/2014/bio
There were a variety of questions and comments from the audience ranging
from the
Enbridge Pipeline in northern Minnesota, mining and
job issues on the iron range, healthcare,
better equality and opportunity for Minnesota
citizens of color, depopulation of rural Minnesota
cities, education, more affordable housing, and the
need for job training for older workers.
My Take
I was
fascinated by the broad choice of questions raised by the audience, and Auditor
Otto's ability to provide thorough responses.
Sitting there, I got the feeling she's had a lot of
experience engaging in those questions both on a
personal level and within her state office,
protecting and scrutinizing how millions of dollars
in state money are spent annually.
The author was
able to ask a few questions regarding healthcare.
Photo from personal archive
I asked about the role of private insurance companies in the state
under Otto's
proposed healthcare system. She responded that every
Minnesota citizen would be guaranteed
insurance under her plan, with healthcare providers
being held to higher wellness and consumer
responsiveness than they are currently.
After the large discussion, I talked briefly
with her more about healthcare and she
commented that her plan would be effective due to
taking existing healthcare spending in the
state (which is spread widely across numerous administrations
and programs) and dedicating it in
one direction more focused on the patient.
When I brought up the terminology of
single-payer a few times, Otto was adamant that
her plan isn’t tied to labels or names, but
structured upon what works best for Minnesotans. She
said the spending and uncertainty of the
current healthcare system in Minnesota isn’t
working.
When
I asked her if her plan is modeled somewhat on Governor Dayton’s expanded
public
option proposal, she said that her own was different, more “sophisticated”.
Earlier this year, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton proposed a public option. Photo from the website of the Office of the Governor .
Otto's healthcare proposal, titled Healthy
Minnesota, is laid out in detail on her website
My personal focus in
the healthcare debate is whether states can adopt a single-payer
healthcare system modeled on the Medicare For All
outline proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders
(I-VT) and some Democrats. I plan on digging more
into Otto's plan in particular, but it seemed a
good step in the right direction from our current
system under Obama Care.
I have to say again
that I greatly appreciated meeting Auditor Otto and hearing her
both about her personal background and platform. I hope
other candidates continue to enter the
community with these sort of discussions so we as
voters can analyze and better choose our
policymakers on both the local and state levels.
Hopefully, readers of my take also have
opportunities to engage with our lawmakers, current
and potential.
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