House HHS Committee Reaches Agreement, MMA MA Rates Priority Not in the Mix

May 8, 2025

The House leadership reached agreement earlier this week on a health and human services (HHS) budget for the upcoming two-year period. However, the bill does not include the MMA’s priority to increase Medical Assistance (MA) payments for outpatient services to 100% of the Medicare level.  

While there was bipartisan support for the need to increase payments, there was not agreement on utilizing a new assessment on managed care organizations that would maximize federal matching funds, as the MMA proposed.  

The bill (HF 2435) was heard in the House Ways & Means Committee on May 7 and was passed to the House floor. It is authored by the co-chairs of the Health Finance and Policy Committee, Rep. Robert Bierman (DFL-Apple Valley) and Rep. Jeff Backer (R-Browns Valley).  

The bill includes increased funding for MA payments for inpatient hospital services, increased funding for independent pharmacists, and increased funding for EMS services.  

Because of the strong disagreement over whether MinnesotaCare should provide coverage for undocumented Minnesotans (something it currently does), funding for MinnesotaCare was removed from the bill altogether. This allowed both sides to reach an agreement. Both sides acknowledge, however, that the state will need to fund MinnesotaCare before the Legislature goes home. It is just not clear whether it will be in the HHS bill, or in another vehicle. 

Currently, there are major differences between the House and Senate HHS bills. The Senate bill includes several of the MMA’s top priorities:  

• increasing MA rates to 100% of the Medicare level;  

• limiting mid-year formulary changes, by saying that an insurer or pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) cannot force a patient who is on a prescribed drug to change medications until the end of the person’s contract year; and 

• one-time funding for the MMA sponsored Treat Yourself First campaign, designed to encourage physicians and other practitioners to get help if they need it. 

The plan is for the House to act on HF 2435 on May 12. It will then need to be acted on by the Senate and then go to a conference committee to work out the differences. This all needs to be completed before session adjournment on May 19.