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.
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.