ST. PAUL, Minn. — Today, Senator Liz Boldon (DFL-Rochester) is calling on Governor Walz and his Department of Commerce to protect access to critical care for hundreds of Minnesota’s most vulnerable children and their families by enforcing state law that has been in place for 15 years.
In late 2025, families of children with complex medical needs were notified by multiple insurance companies, informing them that they would be imposing coverage limits on home care nursing services. Despite a 2010 law requiring that this care “shall be covered” by private insurance companies for families also enrolled in Medical Assistance, companies have “reinterpreted” the law in order to impose caps on this coverage – amounting to 10 total days per year in some cases.
During the 2026 Legislative Session, Senator Boldon and Representative Bierman authored legislation (Senate File 4502) that would simply clarify the intent of the 2010 law, to reinforce that home care nursing services would be covered without limits – as was the initial intent and has been the standard for the last 15 years. Families testified in both the Senate Commerce and House Commerce Committees, and held press conferences to bring attention to the issue.
“Medically complex families across Minnesota are grateful for the Legislature’s leadership in seeking enforcement of the law requiring Home Care Nursing for some of the state’s most vulnerable children, said Brandon Walter, father of a medically complex 5‑year‑old boy. “These children are still going without the care that Minnesota statute has guaranteed since 2010, and the continued misclassification of this benefit is causing serious harm – forcing families to consider hospitalizing their children instead of keeping them safely at home and in their communities. We urge the Governor and his administration to correct this issue now. This is not a negotiation problem, but a statutory and disability‑rights obligation. Minnesota must uphold the protections already in law so children can remain safely at home with the care they are prescribed.”
Ultimately, the legislation passed the Senate twice, but was blocked by House Republicans on the Commerce Committee, and was not taken up on the Floor by House Republican leadership, despite the bill having bipartisan co-authors in both chambers.
“My six-year-old daughter requires oxygen, tube feeding, continuous monitoring, frequent suctioning, seizure intervention, and skilled nursing care to remain safely at home,” said Nick Keis, father of a medically-complex child. “She has been assessed as needing 127 nursing hours each week, but only 40 are currently staffed. My wife and I are left to provide the remaining hospital-level care around the clock, including procedures that require two trained caregivers. During this coverage crisis, our daughter has endured multiple hospitalizations, including a prolonged PICU stay where she was intubated and sedated.
Nick continued, “Our family has attended meetings, filed appeals, contacted state agencies, and shared extensive medical documentation, yet we are still waiting for Minnesota’s government to provide a real answer. The Governor’s Office and the officials who lead the Department of Commerce and DHS have had months to review this issue. They have been given the law, its history, the insurance filings, and direct evidence of the harm to children. They possess the authority to enforce the protections already in place, and their continued failure to act has real consequences for my daughter. Calling an entire nursing shift one of 120 annual ‘visits’ is not a solution – it merely delays the next loss of coverage. Our daughter’s safety should not depend on creative insurance terminology or how long her parents can survive without sleep. The Governor and his administration must act now and enforce the law Minnesota already enacted for medically fragile children.”
On June 12, 2026, more than three months ago, a bipartisan coalition of 45 Minnesota legislators sent an urgent, formal letter to Governor Tim Walz calling on him to immediately direct the Department of Commerce to enforce Minn. Stat. § 62Q.545. The statute requires commercial health plans to cover physician‑prescribed home care nursing (HCN) for children who are also enrolled in Medical Assistance.
As of today, more than 90 days later, the Governor’s Office and the Department of Commerce have not acted to enforce state law, despite having multiple meetings with families. You can find the June 12th letter attached.
“For months, our neighbors’ lives have been uprooted, their financial wellbeing has been jeopardized, and the critical care they need and deserve is less accessible,” said Senator Boldon. “This is not how our health care system should function. The Department of Commerce and lawmakers dictate the rules, and the health plans should be held accountable to those standards. Allowing insurance companies to ‘reinterpret’ laws in their own way to pad their bottom line is absolutely unacceptable. Health care is a human right, and insurance companies should not be able to come between Minnesotans and the care they need. The Department of Commerce must immediately enforce the law, as it has operated for the last 15 years.”
Families and lawmakers are urging Governor Walz and his Department of Commerce to swiftly enforce existing state law before health plans are finalized by October 1, ahead of open enrollment. You can find more information and past coverage of this issue at the following links:
December 2025
- Star Tribune: Parents protest Medica’s new benefit limits for children with severe disabilities
- KARE 11: Families, physicians protest Medica’s cuts to benefits for children with severe medical conditions
May 2026
- Post Bulletin: Minnesota lawmakers push to include home care nursing fix in state commerce omnibus
- WCCO: Families plead for Minnesota lawmakers to fix insurance loophole capping at-home nursing care hours for kids with disabilities
June 2026
- WCCO: Minnesota families file lawsuit against health insurance company for denying coverage
- WCCO: Why a Minnesota family is suing health insurance company
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