Legislative Session Ends with Positive Outcomes for MMA Priorities

May 21, 2026

The Minnesota Legislature adjourned on May 18, with several MMA priority bills passing, and now just await Gov. Tim Walz’s signature before becoming law. 

“It went about as well as we could have realistically hoped for,” said Chad Fahning, MPP, MMA’s senior manager of lobbying and state legislative affairs. “Given it was a non-budget year with split partisan control of the House, we came into session with an understanding that little would get done. However, we passed several priority bills and advanced other high-profile bills like federal Medicaid conformity and a bailout for HCMC. Minnesota’s patients could not afford inaction on these items and we got them done.” 

One MMA priority prohibits the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in adverse utilization review decisions. The legislation does not limit the ability of health insurance companies to use AI to process claims and approve care but clarifies that AI cannot be used to require prior authorization and deny services. A provider of the same or similar qualifications alone must make the call. This item was included in the commerce policy bill that passed both the House and Senate floors on May 16. 

Secondly, legislation expanding confidentiality protections to all healthcare professionals participating in a wellness program was included in the health and human services (HHS) finance bill. This would extend the same protections currently offered to physicians who participate in programs like the MMA’s Treat Yourself First program.  

Other items included in the HHS bill would comply with federal law following the passage of H.R. 1 last summer. If the legislature did not pass compliance legislation, the state would risk losing an estimated $3-$5 billion annually. The federal compliance changes within the bill include: 

• implementing new federally mandated work requirements for adults without children using Medicaid; 

• establishing new six-month renewal requirements; 

• establishing cost sharing requirements across departments; 

• shortening retroactive coverage for adults without children from three months to one month. 

Additional provisions in the HHS finance bill include approximately $30 million for hospital stabilization grants, and a one-time $205 million stabilization grant in emergency funds for Hennepin Healthcare, with up to $500 million available for Hennepin Healthcare through 2031. The MMA actively advocated for state support for Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC). The legislation also creates a working group to develop long-term sustainability strategies for HCMC, and a new corporate governance board. 

MMA legislative priorities that did not advance this session include advancing evidence-based firearm safety laws. Legislation to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines passed the Senate but was not taken up by the House and therefore did not advance. MMA-backed legislation to require the safe storage of firearms, allow local governments to enforce stricter firearm safety policies than the state, and to create an office of gin violence prevention to gather Minnesota-specific data on firearm death and injury did not pass. Similarly, MMA priority legislation to repeal the personal belief exemptions for school and childcare facility immunization requirements did not pass. 

“It was disappointing to see our two major public health initiatives fail to make it across the finish line,” said Natalie Schmidt-Larkin, MPH, MMA’s manager of state legislative affairs. “These items lacked the bipartisan support to move, or even be heard, in the House.” 

The Senate HHS policy omnibus bill included language to prohibit prior authorization requirements and require coverage without cost-sharing for items included on recommended immunization schedules, but this language was not included in the final package. The proposal also would have expanded the definition of recommended vaccines to include those endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 

Additionally, the Legislature passed a scope of practice and licensure package that included MMA-supported legislation to allow pharmacists to prescribe medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD). Also included was a change to advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) licensure requirements, removing the requirement that the first year of postgraduate practice for newly trained nurse practitioners or clinical nurse specialists be in a hospital or other integrated clinical setting. Instead, the first year of postgraduate practice for nurse practitioners or clinical nurse specialists can be in any setting, provided there is a collaborative agreement with a physician or an APRN with at least three years’ practice experience. Nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists who do not provide primary care or mental health services must complete their 2,080 postgraduate hours under a collaborative practice agreement with a physician or APRN in a setting where physicians and APRNs work together.

The current Legislature now stands adjourned with no date to reconvene. The next session will be called in January, after the November midterms, in which all 201 legislative seats and the state’s constitutional offices are up for re-election.