MMA Board of Trustees Sets Priorities for 2026 Legislative Session

November 13, 2025

At its November 8 meeting, the MMA Board of Trustees approved a list of priorities that aim to make Minnesota the best place to practice and Minnesotans the healthiest in the nation.  

The session, which begins February 17, is a shorter non-budget session, so legislative requests seeking new fiscal appropriations are unlikely to pass.  

The MMA’s legislative priorities include:  

1. Support efforts to minimize the impact of federal Medicaid changes and preserve coverage for Minnesotans. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law July 4, is expected to lead, over the next 10 years, to as many as 220,000 Minnesotans losing insurance coverage (and up to 10 million nationally) and a loss of approximately $19 billion in federal Medicaid spending. 

2. Repeal the personal-belief exemption for school and child-care facility immunization requirements. Minnesota law currently allows an exemption from immunization for “conscientiously held beliefs of the parent or guardian of the minor child or emancipated person.” This provision makes Minnesota an outlier – only about 13 other states permit such an exemption – and is considered a significant reason for Minnesota’s falling vaccination rates. 

3. Support evidence-based firearm safety laws. The MMA supports: 

• a statewide ban on the sale and possession of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines 

• a “safe storage” requirement in Minnesota, so firearms are required to be securely stored, unloaded, and kept separately from ammunition 

• revoking the Minnesota statute that precludes local municipalities from enacting regulations related to firearms that are more restrictive than state law.  

4. Ensure clinician involvement in prior authorization reviews. This would prohibit the use of AI-exclusive adverse determinations/prior authorization denials. 

5. Expand current confidentiality protections for participation in a “wellness program” to include other healthcare professionals. The Treat Yourself First campaign, organized by the MMA and in coalition with other healthcare professionals, expects to offer well-being services and other resources. This provision will ensure that confidentiality protections currently available to physicians who utilize an MMA-provided wellness program are available to other healthcare professionals who may choose to access the services/resources. 

In addition to the aforementioned legislative priorities, the MMA advocacy team will also keep an eye on these other topics during the upcoming legislative session:  

• Medical malpractice tort reform 

• Pathway to licensure for international medical graduates (IMGs) who have been faculty at educational systems for three to five years 

• Licensing of certified anesthesiologist assistants (CAA) 

• Collecting data on private equity in medicine 

• Improving access to mental health treatment