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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Labor Leader: Minnesota Insurance Backlog Shows Need For National Solution

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Thursday, September 10, 2009   

ST. PAUL, Minn. - A record number of Minnesotans are turning to MinnesotaCare, the state's health insurance for low and moderate income families. People typically apply for MinnesotaCare if they have lost a job that provided insurance or if their employer drops health insurance benefits because of escalating premium costs.

Eliot Seide, president of Minnesota Council 5 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), says the backlog of applications highlights the need for a national health care solution.

"People have to wait three months or longer to find out if they even qualify for health insurance. And that means while they're doing that, they're postponing the care they need. The crush of these applicants has doubled the time it takes our members to process applications."

In one month this summer, applications for MinnesotaCare jumped more than 40 percent. The state Department of Human Services has responded by training additional workers, but they have not yet caught up with the backlog.

Seide says the result is more expense for health services, since people wait to treat illnesses until they are more advanced and difficult to treat. Then they often end up in a hospital emergency room - where they also encounter AFSCME workers.

"So, they're calling. And when they call, they're sick, they're scared and they're angry - and we have fewer people than ever to help them."

At a time when MinnesotaCare is needed most, Gov. Pawlenty's state budget cuts some 30,000 Minnesotans from the program, Seide adds.

President Obama plans to speak at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Saturday to promote his proposed health care legislation.





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