The 2025 legislative session begins today, and insurance reform will be a big topic for the next two months. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat conducted a poll two weeks ago and found that 76 percent of the respondents have experienced a premium increase of ten percent or more in the past year.
“It’s in epic proportions in the amount of money we are paying in insurance,” Pinsonat said.
Lawmakers will also have to approve a budget and Pinsonat says money will be tight, especially with a reduction in federal dollars.
“The legislature has to deal with that and cutting the budget, no governor, no legislature likes to do that, especially when it hurts families that need these dollars,” Pinsonat said.
Pinsonat says Make America Helathy Again (MAHA) legislation will also be prominent in this session. U-S Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy is leading the Make America Healthy Again movement as he would like to see fluoride removed from drinking water and synthetic food dyes in school lunches banned.
Pinsonat says this is a Trump state, so the legislature likes to mimic what you’re seeing in Washington.
“Anything coming from Washington, especially from the Trump Administration, whether its cuts or healthy diets, all of those things are going to end up being dealt with by the legislature,” Pinsonat said.