LFO recommends $22.97 billion DHS budget; Legislature approves provider rate increases and budget notes, advances SB 5526

The Legislative Fiscal Office told the Joint Subcommittee on Human Services on June 5 that it recommends a total-funds budget of $22,974,972,612 for the Department of Human Services and proposed a set of provider rate increases and program investments that the panel moved to the full Ways and Means Committee with no objections.

The recommendation “represents a 15.7% increase compared to the 2023-25 legislatively approved budget,” LFO analyst Gregory Jolivet told the subcommittee, and the recommended general fund budget “represents a 21.8% increase from the 23-25 LAB and a roughly 1.1% increase over the current service level budget.”

Why it matters: The DHS budget covers Medicaid, long-term care, child welfare, SNAP administration and other programs that serve older adults, people with disabilities, foster children and people experiencing homelessness. Changes to provider rates and budget notes in the package affect direct-care wages, inspection and licensing capacity, and the implementation timetable for new payment methodologies.

Most important details first: The LFO package includes $75 million general fund for Medicaid provider rate increases across Aging and People with Disabilities and IDD programs intended to increase direct-care wages and, in some cases, move provider types to new rate methodologies. Other headline investments in the recommendation include $19.7 million general fund for youth experiencing homelessness programs, $7 million for Family First…