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House Republicans unveiled deeper cuts to state health care spending than those proposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. This was one of the areas of disagreement that forced an extended special session in 2005. The GOP proposed a so-called "delete all" amendment to HF1422. The legislation from Rep. Fran Bradley, R-Rochester, would have removed another 2,700 parents from the MinnesotaCare program by setting a lower income limit. That's on top of about 27,000 adults, including some parents, who would lose eligibility for state programs under Pawlenty's budget. The cuts wouldn't trim children's coverage.

However, the $9 billion compromise increased funding for nursing homes and other long-term care facilities by 4 percent over the next two years. Senate DFLers are applauded a provision ensuring that MinnesotaCare recipients will continue to have health insurance. The differences in the legislation can be tracked below.

Here are the highlights of the bill:


-The state's cost for these programs adds up to $9 billion for the next two years.
-The Tobacco Health Impact Fee adds a wholesale charge of 75 cents per pack of cigarettes and doubles the wholesale fee for cigars, snuff and other tobacco products, raising about $400 million over the next two years.
-MinnesotaCare remains available to those who currently qualify. The bill repeals a $5,000 yearly limit on outpatient benefits and a $500 cap on dental services. Diabetics shouldn't run into limits on coverage of test strips and insulin equipment. Medical Assistance recipients will get lower copayments for drugs.
-Nursing homes will get back-to-back 2.6 percent bumps in state funding.
-People with disabilities will have more access to programs and funding to help them move out of institutions and live independently. Parents of disabled children will see lower fees for state-supported medical services.
-Abortion opponents got two of their priorities - a provision that encourages the use of anesthesia for the fetus during an abortion and a reduction in family planning grants by $1.9 million a year starting in 2007.