SAINT PAUL, Minn. – On Wednesday, April 29, the Senate passed SF4612, the 2026 supplemental Health and Human Services budget. The bill makes significant investments in direct reaction to the federal budget passed in 2025, with $700 in spending over base levels to alleviate the impact on Minnesota’s healthcare and food security system, including:
- $150 million in direct grants to HCMC hospital
- $115 million for hospital stabilization grants
- $45 million for county IT upgrades to support new eligibility determinations
- $34 million for county administrative and SNAP food security costs
- $17 million for safety-net provider uncompensated care
- $15 million for rural EMS provider uncompensated care
The bill also codifies new eligibility requirements for Medical Assistance imposed in the federal budget.
“Usually, we go to the hospital when we have an emergency,” Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy (DFL- St. Paul) said. “Today, it’s the hospitals having an emergency, and they are coming to us. The direct support in this budget will keep the lights on and machines beeping at HCMC and at critical access hospitals across the state. Recognizing that the challenges HCMC faces are severe and ongoing, our tax bill introduced today creates a separate revenue stream that would continue to fund its operation.
Another section of this bill funds hundreds of millions to address new requirements on SNAP imposed on our counties. By shifting costs and responsibilities to counties, the Republican budget would force a never-ending property tax spike, which we have moved to absorb at the state level to protect Minnesotans.
This budget doesn’t expand healthcare coverage or improve options, it doesn’t increase benefits for families struggling to pay their bills and put food on the table. Instead, we’re forced to offset damage done by the Trump and Republican budget that slashed funding for Medicaid and SNAP, federal programs that have kept people healthy and families fed for decades. We’re paying more to get loss, all to pay for a tax break the richest people in the world don’t need. I will point out the floor amendment we adopted today, which will automatically end some of the mandates forced on Minnesotans the moment they are removed by Congress. I look forward to that day, and to passing a budget that actually makes healthcare and food more accessible and affordable, rather than mitigating damage coming from Washington and Wall Street.”
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