House passes broad health-finance bill after hours of debate on hospitals, childcare, EMS and reproductive services

House File 2435, the health and human services finance bill, passed the Minnesota House on May 13, 2025, after several hours of debate and multiple roll-call votes. The final vote was 95 yeas to 38 nays.

The bill's primary sponsors described it as a broad package of measures intended to stabilize hospitals, expand telehealth and pharmacy supports, and maintain public-health infrastructure. "The health finance bill before you today is focused on delivering better health care access and meeting some of the most pressing needs of our state," said Representative John Bierman, the bill author and chair from Dakota County.

Why this matters: HF2435 bundles many programs that affect daily health services — from payments that aim to shore up hospital finances to funding that touches early-childhood care, child-protection information systems and emergency medical services (EMS). Lawmakers said the package attempts to balance near‑term budget constraints with targeted investments; opponents warned some provisions will not go far enough or will reallocate funds in ways they said would harm specific providers and clients.

Most important facts

- Hospital-directed payment program: The bill establishes a federal-state directed payment model for hospitals intended to increase medical assistance (MA) rates without raising additional state general-fund dollars. Representative Nadeau and others framed the provision as a means to stabilize hospitals with negative operating margins.

- Pharmacy and PBM changes: HF2435 includes a provision to move to a single state pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) for MA and a short-term dispensing payment add-on intended to assist community pharmacies while the PBM transition is implemented.

- EMS and rural supports: The bill continues and expands several EMS provisions and includes funding mechanisms targeted to rural…