Medicaid in Minnesota

Medicaid is essential to health care in Minnesota:

The Medicaid program, also known as Medical Assistance, covers 1.3 million Minnesotans, including 42% of children across the state. For hospitals and health systems, Medicaid patients account for 20% of hospital admissions every year, making it a vital source of coverage to ensure access to life-saving care.  

Medicaid at risk:

Congress is currently considering policy options that could collectively reduce federal spending for the Medicaid program by trillions of dollars over the next 10 years. These options include proposals to directly reduce federal spending on the program and limit Minnesota’s ability to generate funding for the state share of the costs. Specific proposals include: 

• Medicaid work requirements: although data shows that the majority of able-bodied adult Medicaid enrollees already work, additional reporting and administrative requirements could result in 37% of Minnesota adult Medicaid enrollees to be at risk for losing coverage.  

• Medicaid per capita caps: currently the federal government pays 54% of Minnesota’s Medicaid costs. Under a per capita cap, Minnesota would receive a fixed amount of federal funding on a per enrollee basis that would not accurately account for any variation in spending.  

• Reductions in the Medicaid expansion federal match rate: The Affordable Care Act allows states to expand Medicaid coverage to adults with incomes up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level, providing an enhanced 90% federal match rate for that expansion population. Lowering that rate to the normal 54% match rate in Minnesota would significantly reduce federal payments to the state, potentially resulting in 19% of Minnesotans losing Medicaid coverage.  

Even a small portion of the proposed reductions could have wide-ranging negative consequences for the health and well-being of both Medicaid enrollees and the broader health care system.

MHA urges policymakers to reject reductions to the Medicaid program that would not only strip access to health care from some of the most vulnerable populations but also destabilize hospitals and health systems, leading to a loss of services that would impact patients and communities across Minnesota.