Michelle Benson

More from you than anything I knew before about exactly how they have been involved in the oversight.

And, you know, the characters like Mac Bean and Michelle Benson, I was not actually aware of that, of their specific role in oversight.

It's frustrating that the media is just not picking up on it at all.

It doesn't seem like.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I think the most egregious thing that we uncovered when Renee was doing this research and Monica and I were both kind of like mortified by it is that key players in this, like Michelle Benson and Dean went to work as lobbyists for companies that profited from this.

And Benson actually went because there was legislation to then since since all this has gone down, Minnesota has gone back to only allowing non-profit HMOs to operate in Minnesota.

Together, they discussed hospital financial stability, the growing role of artificial intelligence in healthcare, and the importance of building relationships at the state capitol.

Former state senator and MHA's senior policy director, Michelle Benson, moderated the conversation, which was recorded during MHA's 2026 annual meeting in September.

Representative Zalesnikar, I'm going to start with you.

What do you believe are the most pressing issues facing your health care system today?

your

service.

Again, that was Senator Matt Klein, Representative Dave Baker, and Representative Natalie Zeleznikar in a conversation moderated by MHA's Michelle Benson.

I'm Abbey Machtig, and you've been listening to Hospital Matters from the Minnesota Hospital Association.