Health care was the biggest topic in the early days of this legislative session, and it isn't going away anytime soon.

The Republican-led Legislature and DFL Gov. Mark Dayton found room for compromise on the issue they found most pressing: premium relief for Minnesotans on the individual market.

And while it didn't make it into the premium-relief bill, both sides agreed to work on approving a "reinsurance" plan, essentially a pot of money to help insure the insurance companies against catastrophic losses from patients with enormous claims.

A House reinsurance bill with both GOP and DFL authors has made its way through several committees, and reinsurance plans have also been introduced in the Senate.

There's likely to be less room for compromise on bills involving the future of MinnesotaCare, the state's health coverage program for low-income residents, and MNsure, the state's individual health care marketplace.

Rep. Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, introduced a bill last week that would repeal MinnesotaCare, requiring the state's health commissioner to instead request funding to continue its programs. Dayton and other DFLers, meanwhile, want to expand MinnesotaCare, allowing more residents of different income levels to buy in to the program.

Republicans in the Legislature are also aiming to repeal MNsure and transition people using it to the federal marketplace. Any of the pending health care bills will need to be moved through committees by Friday, the second major deadline for bills this session.

Erin Golden