Dr. Kim Tjaden, MD, MPH, FAAFP

Dr. Tjaden works as a family medicine physician at CentraCare in St. Cloud and serves as chair of the Minnesota Medical Association’s Board of Trustees.

“From a family medicine standpoint, I always see people who are delaying care. ‘Please don't make me come in for my 6-month check, I can't afford the copay.’ ‘I can't afford my insurance.’ ‘I lost my insurance.’ 

"Folks are really going to lose valuable preventive visits. Care that helps us keep their blood pressure down so they don't end up with heart failure and end up in the hospital. Things that we can treat them for in the clinic instead of waiting until they have a crisis in the end and up in the Emergency Department. Early intervention … helps us not end up with sicker and more expensive care later down the road.”

“Rural hospitals are already operating in a very thin margin and any cuts are going to result in decreased services for families and children.”

“As a leader of the Minnesota Medical Association, I know lots of Minnesota doctors that are already struggling with low reimbursement [rates] in Medicaid and those rural doctors are the ones who are really struggling … The price of things keeps going up, so to provide care, it just keeps getting harder and harder. Further decreasing those payments is going to be disastrous for our doctors and our patients.”