May 1, 2025
While other bills are moving through the Ways and Means Committee and onto the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote, the health omnibus bill remains stalled.
Prior to the third budget deadline on April 11, the point at which omnibus bills must be passed out of their committee of origin, the House Health Finance and Policy Committee referred a scaled down version of the bill to the Ways and Means Committee, with little detail on how money would be allocated. This was done in order to meet the deadline and allow negotiations to continue.
Top items of disagreement between Democrats and Republicans are how to pay for increasing Medical Assistance (MA) rates to 100% of Medicare, a top MMA priority, and efforts to remove access to MinnesotaCare for Minnesotans with undocumented status. The MMA, along with other groups such as the Minnesota Hospital Association and the Minnesota Council of Health Plans, oppose the removal of access to MinnesotaCare effort.
The 67-67 partisan split in the House requires any bills that pass to have bipartisan support.
In the Senate, the health omnibus bill was heard on April 28 in the Finance Committee and referred to the floor. Much of the committee discussion centered on the plan to replace the state’s reinsurance program with a new premium subsidy program for those purchasing in the individual market, funded by an assessment on health plans. Republicans oppose the plan in favor of using general fund dollars to pay for the reinsurance program for the next two years.
Republicans argue that the health plan assessment, paired with another assessment in the Senate bill to raise funds eligible for federal match to raise MA rates to 100% of Medicare, puts too much financial burden on health insurance companies, leading to a raise in premiums. However, the health insurance companies would benefit from the increased capitation rates and would be reimbursed for 99% of the assessment used to raise MA rates. The net amount not eligible for reimbursement is estimated at $1.7 million annually across all health insurance companies.
The Senate omnibus bill was referred to the floor on a party-line vote.
October 9, 2025
The MMA is partnering with Hennepin Healthcare to offer an in-person session on “Supporting Patients, Families, and Professionals in the Aftermath of Crisis” on October 21 from 6 to 8 pm in Room RL110 at the HCMC Red Building, 730 South 8th Street, in Minneapolis.
October 9, 2025
The MMA, in partnership with the Wisconsin Medical Society, will lead a panel discussion titled "The Role of Medical and Professional Societies in Supporting Clinicians and Community Health" at the Transforming Community and Rural Healthcare 2025: Bold Innovation and Partnerships symposium, to be held on October 27-28, at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.
October 2, 2025
The federal government shutdown will affect the Minnesota healthcare system in several important ways.