The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) expanded Medicaid eligibility on March 1 to include individuals aged 21-64 with incomes up to 75 percent of the federal poverty level who are not otherwise Medicaid eligible (e.g., childless, non-disabled adults). DHS’ action was authorized by state legislation enacted in 2010, a January 5, 2011 Executive Order by Governor Mark Dayton, and final approval by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) last month. DHS has developed automatic and manual conversion processes to efficiently transition 32,000 Minnesota residents in state funded General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) and 52,000 residents in a state funded managed care program (MinnesotaCare) to Medicaid, which will enable Minnesota to qualify for Medicaid Federal financial participation (FFP) on state expenditures on health services for these individuals. DHS will also accept applications from about 12,000 uninsured individuals with incomes up to 75 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) who are not in state funded health programs at this time (75 percent of the FPL represents $8,124 for one individual, $10,932 for a married couple). The increases in Medicaid enrollment will generate $1.1 billion in additional FFP for Minnesota over two years. Minnesota’s Medicaid expansion is allowed under section 2001 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), follows Medicaid expansions that were announced by Connecticut and the District of Columbia last year, and meets criteria that CMS defined in a letter to all state Medicaid directors on April 9, 2010.   It marks an exceptional accomplishment by the State that will not diminish Minnesota’s opportunity to obtain enhanced FFP on all expansion populations after Medicaid expansions become mandatory under the ACA on January 1, 2014.

About Tom Entrikin

A former policy specialist with the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration (now Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)), Tom Entrikin has vast experience providing technical assistance to states on Medicaid eligibility, coverage, and reimbursement; provider certification and enrollment; program integrity; recovery of third party liabilities; Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) performance specifications and operations; interagency agreements; contracts with managed care organizations; and Medicaid waiver programs.

Read more