Four large nonprofit health plans will return excess profits from public health care contracts to the state under a yearlong deal announced Tuesday by Gov. Mark Dayton. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, HealthPartners, Medica and UCare -- the biggest of the health plans that contract to cover more than 500,000 subsidized patients -- agreed to limit their 2011 profits from state business to 1%. Any earnings above that will come back to the state next year, flowing into the general fund and a special fund tied to the MinnesotaCare health plan for the working poor. The profit cap is the latest development in the Democratic governor's push to curb HMO earnings from public contracts. It comes a day after the state Human Services Department launched a website displaying financial details about health plans. In recent weeks,
