Q: What challenges do you anticipate your particular state running into with upcoming health care reform provisions?
Glenn Wilson: The challenge for Minnesota will be ensuring that implementation of the various health care reform provisions do not adversely affect Minnesota's existing low-cost, high-value health care delivery system.
Q: For producers licensed to sell health insurance in your state, what developments might they look out for?
GW: Producers will want to review the potential effect of the new MLR regulations and the health insurance exchange on their business. With respect to exchanges, producers will particularly want to understand how the exchange – be it state or federal – intends to deal with navigators. They should also explore the effects that a potential merger of small-group and individual markets may have on their business.
Q: What should producers concentrate on the most over the next 10 years with regard to health care reform's affects in Minnesota?
GW: I think the role of the producer will continue to evolve, and my recommendation would be to focus on services that may not be fungible or easily reduced to automated processes.
Q: Is your state doing anything differently or preparing in any special way for health care reform?
GW: It's too early to determine what might need to be done differently, as the program is only now being defined in some detail.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty appointed Glenn Wilson commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce on Dec. 27, 2002. He was reappointed in January 2007.
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