ST. PAUL, Minn. — Today, the Minnesota Senate passed the Health and Human Services Budget presented by Senator Melissa H. Wiklund (DFL – Bloomington). During extremely uncertain times in federal health care policy, the bill is focused on creating a stable, affordable, and accessible health care system for every Minnesotan.
“Minnesotans from every corner of our state deserve affordable health care and a strong health care system,” said Senator Wiklund, chair of the Health and Human Services Committee. “In a time of great uncertainty from our federal government, I am proud that the Minnesota Senate is fighting to protect access to care, investing wisely, and putting the State in the best position to respond to what comes next.”
The budget includes several patient-friendly proposals, including protection from certain unexpected fees charged on telehealth and preventive care services at clinics affiliated with hospital systems, preventing mid-year formulary changes that needlessly remove coverage for necessary prescriptions in the middle of the year, and extending access to audio-only telehealth services, which have helped many Minnesotans access care, especially in rural areas.
Continuing our commitment to equitable care, this budget maintains funding for community-based HIV/AIDS supports and services after federal reductions, maintaining our commitment to ending HIV transmissions in Minnesota. We also invest in proposals to support maternal and infant health through Medical Assistance coverage for birth centers and home births, and through a new licensure framework that will increase the number of midwives in Minnesota.
A strong health care system is also at the core of the budget. This includes drawing down new federal funding that brings Minnesota more in line with other states in how they leverage federal Medicaid dollars. These new programs will help bring hundreds of millions of dollars each year to hospitals all across the state, raise the rates our public programs pay to doctors and mental health professionals, and help struggling community pharmacies stay in business. The bill also boosts reimbursement for ambulance services and establishes $18 million in annual grants to support rural ambulance providers to maintain critical emergency response services statewide.
Minnesotans also expect us to protect the integrity of government services and use their tax dollars wisely. This bill bolsters program integrity by investing in better detection and prevention across human services programs and adding new staff to conduct audits, investigations, and provider screening and education. We also implement an electronic attendance system for Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program to improve detection of bad actors.
Provisions supporting the well-being of children and families include $12 million for food and nutrition assistance that is desperately needed after recent reductions in federal food deliveries and anticipated federal cuts to the SNAP program, strengthening the project to modernize family child care licensing to ensure access to affordable child care, and supporting kinship care for children in foster care. There is also continued investment to modernize the child welfare IT system that counties and the state rely on every day.
These are just some of the notable provisions in the bill. The entire bill can be read here. The bill passed on a vote of 34-33, and now heads to conference committee for further negotiation with House members. Today’s floor debate can be viewed here.
###
Learn more about Sen. Wiklund.
Read more news from Sen. Wiklund.
