A consortium of 12 rural Minnesota counties has been selected for a three-year pilot project that could serve as a state and national model for providing services to people receiving government-funded medical care.
Primary care physicians are more readily available in Minnesota than most of the country, but experts say the state faces a looming shortage and it's only partly because of the federal health care overhaul that will extend coverage to around 300,000 uninsured residents.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and outspoken U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann are feuding over a state executive order aiming to capture more federal health money to expand care programs for the poor.