MMA Legislative Priority on Telehealth Included in Governor’s Revised Budget, Heard in Senate Hearing

March 27, 2025

An MMA legislative priority to extend coverage for audio-only telehealth services beyond the current June 30, 2025, deadline, is included in legislation that was heard in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee this week.  

The bill, SF 2669 (Wiklund, DFL – Bloomington), is the health and human services portions of Gov. Tim Walz’s revised budget proposal. The proposal was released following the announcement of a $150 million decrease in the current state budget, a long-term projected budget deficit of nearly $6 billion for fiscal years 2028 and 2029.  

The audio-only telehealth part of the proposal is tagged with a $19.3 million cost. 

In 2024, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) studied whether   audio-only telehealth services were meeting the needs of Minnesotans. The MDH study found that telehealth has increased access to services, stating “a synthesis of study results suggests the overall conclusion that, to date, telehealth has expanded access to healthcare without appearing to compromise healthcare quality or patient satisfaction.”  

The MMA supported this section of the governor’s budget proposal in a letter to the committee. The letter also shared support for budget allocations in the budget proposal dedicated to addressing infectious disease prevention, response, and outbreak control. The MMA shared serious concerns among physicians about the increase in outbreaks of infectious disease across the country, including the spread of measles, with a case being recorded in Minnesota earlier this week. 

Lastly, the MMA expressed disappointment that the Minnesota Department of Human Services recommendation to increase Medical Assistance (MA) reimbursement rates for outpatient physician services to 100% of Medicare was not included in the governor’s revised budget proposal. A 2024 DHS study found that MA payment rates have failed to keep up with the cost of delivering care, causing clinics to make difficult business decisions about services to cut or limit. The MMA is promoting separate legislation to increase these rates. That legislation is moving in both the House and Senate and is on track to be considered in the omnibus Health budget bills, which will be developed in the coming weeks.