Senate panel advances bill to raise Medicaid rates for mental health, funds changes via health-plan assessment

Senator Wiklendt brought Senate File 1402 before the Minnesota Senate Health and Human Services Committee and, after adopting an amendment that adds a financing mechanism, the committee voted to recommend the bill to the taxes committee.

The bill would increase reimbursement rates for Medical Assistance (MA, Minnesota’s Medicaid program) providers, implement recommendations from the Department of Human Services’ outpatient rate study and raise rates for community-based children’s and adult mental health services. As amended, the bill funds those changes using a health-plan assessment intended to draw down federal matching funds and return most of the assessment to managed care organizations through higher capitation payments.

The measure’s sponsor said implementation would occur over three years and that the assessment is structured with tiers and caps to limit the impact on smaller plans. “This amendment…adds a fiscally responsible and innovative funding solution that relies on a health plan assessment,” Senator Wiklendt said when moving the author’s amendment.

Clinicians and provider groups urged action. Dr. Katie Semenek, a general pediatrician testifying on behalf of the Minnesota Medical Association and the…