Dayton appoints seven-member health exchange board

Gov. Mark Dayton introduces the members of the MNsure board

Gov. Mark Dayton has appointed the seven-member board that will oversee a state-run health insurance marketplace where 1.3 million people are expected to purchase insurance by 2016. Dayton picked the appointees from a pool of 112 applicants.

Minnesota Department of Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson automatically receives a seat on the board of the exchange, which is known as MNsure. The other six members will serve staggered four-year terms.

The appointees:

• Thompson Aderinkomi: Aderinkomi is the founder of RetraceHealth, a company that uses communications technology — such as instant messaging and video chats — to provide primary care services to patients. He also serves on the board of WATCH MN, an anti-violence advocacy group, and Youthprise, which provides learning opportunities for kids outside of the classroom.
• Peter Benner: Benner is a former executive director of AFSCME Council 6, where he played a key role in designing health insurance benefits for state employees. He also was a prominent adviser to Dayton’s transition team in 2010. Benner was part of a group of eight individuals who conducted outreach efforts to help put together the incoming administration.
• Brian Beutner: Until this month, Beutner served as the chief executive officer of mPay Gateway, a health care software company. Prior to that he spent seven years with UnitedHealth Group, including a stint as the firm’s general counsel. Beutner also serves on the advisory board for Hamline University School of Law’s Health Law Institute.
• Kathryn Duevel: Duevel spent more than two decades working at Affiliated Community Medical Centers in Willmar as an obstetrics and gynecology physician. She currently works in a similar capacity at Rice Memorial Hospital, also in Willmar, and is a founding board member of the Kandiyohi Area Family YMCA.
• Tom Forsythe: Forsythe has spent more than two decades with General Mills, currently serving as vice president of global communications.  He’s spent time on the boards of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and Twin Cities Public Television. Back in the early 1990s, he served as a business representative in health care talks that resulted in the creation of MinnesotaCare.
• Phil Norrgard: Norrgard has served as director of human services for the Fond du Lac Reservation since 1980. He’s also a founding member of the American Indian Mental Health Advisory Council and the American Indian Child Welfare Advisory Council, which provide counsel to the Department of Human Services on pertinent issues.

The board will be charged with overseeing the insurance marketplace, which is expected to be open for enrollment in October. Coverage for individuals purchasing insurance through the exchange would begin on January 1, 2015.

Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake, the lead minority member of the Health, Human Services and Housing Committee, questioned the lack of representation from small businesses on the board, many of which will rely on the exchange to purchase plans for their workers. “It would have been nice if the governor would have reached out a little bit in this process,” Benson said.