The new eligibility category for MinnesotaCare did not begin until January 1, 2025. Despite costing $3.9 million within the first five months of 2025, Republicans spent the session misleading the public by grossly inflating projected costs. Data from the program showed that actual costs were well within what DFLers budgeted for in 2023 when the law was passed.
DFLers were committed to protecting health care coverage for taxpaying Minnesotans and took Republicans at their word when they shared their concerns about fiscal responsibility. The People of Color and Indigenous Caucus (POCI) offered solutions to address issues related to enrollment and budgets. Republicans firmly rejected those proposals.
Kicking people off of MinnesotaCare will not save money. Preventative care is more cost- effective than requiring people to rely on emergency rooms for health care. Eliminating insurance coverage will result in higher costs for hospitals due to uncompensated care and higher premiums for everyone. That is why when DFLers expanded health care to low-income undocumented Minnesotans, the law was supported by hospitals, doctors, and nurses as a cost-saving measure.
Providing expanded health care coverage to undocumented Minnesotans also drew support from a diverse group of organizations, including labor unions, health insurers, and faith-based groups. These supporters understood that the policy decision to expand health care access was about caring for our neighbors. A healthy community thrives and benefits everyone in Minnesota.
The impact of the Republican priority to remove health care from our neighbors is not abstract. Senate DFLers shared stories from business owners, mixed-status families, and other hardworking Minnesotans about what the new health care coverage meant to them. Stories included finally being able to take medications to prevent heart disease, managing chronic conditions so they can continue to work, and explaining how staying healthy helped them take care of their family.
In the end, Republicans shared that they didn’t want to allow our taxpaying income-eligible neighbors to visit a doctor because it didn’t put Minnesotans first. It was never about the money. It was about creating a divide – us vs. them, Minnesotans vs. foreigners. Senate DFLers rejected that fear-mongering philosophy and fought until the end to protect health care access and prevent rising costs in uncompensated care.
HF 1 First Special Session: Following the final enactment, the Department of Human Services (DHS) will not enroll new adults aged 18 years or older who qualify under the undocumented citizen eligibility category for MinnesotaCare. Effective January 1, 2026, all existing undocumented noncitizen adults will be ineligible for MinnesotaCare and coverage will be removed. Following the final enactment, DHS will continue to approve and cover undocumented noncitizen children up to their 18th birthday. Funding for all public health initiatives, such as ensuring safe drinking water and combating infectious diseases, was contingent upon the passage of HF 1.