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.
May 29, 2025
As the Legislature works to complete its work on the state’s two-year budget, another deadline is looming. Legislators are required to pass a balanced budget before the end of the fiscal year—June 30, 2025. If they don’t meet that deadline, the state will begin a partial shutdown.
May 29, 2025
Registration has opened for the Empowering Physicians: A Night of Reflection and Engagement event, featuring best-selling author Elisabeth Rosenthal, MD.
May 29, 2025
The AMA is encouraging physicians to contact their U.S. senators and urge them to revise the reconciliation bill passed recently by the U.S. House of Representatives. While the bill includes language that would stabilize Medicare physician payments, it also threatens to cripple Medicaid and CHIP.