The Minnesota Senate on Saturday approved a new Health & Human Services budget which funds critical health & social programs across the state. The budget invests in behavioral and mental health, telehealth, improving maternal outcomes, and giving greater independence for disabled Minnesotans.
The bipartisan package included agreements on how to spend one-time federal funds across several programs, including for childcare development and stabilization, mental health block grants, substance use disorder block grants, and pandemic emergency assistance.
Senate Republicans prevailed in stopping a number of priorities from Gov. Walz and House Democrats, including a proposal to study government-run health care in the form of a public option and OneCare, Governor Walz’s health care proposal that would have moved Minnesota to single-payer health care; cuts to programs for those with substance use disorders and in disability services; expensive permanent new mandates requiring businesses to pay for maternity or paternity leave for employees; and a Democrat effort to weaken integrity measures in government benefit programs.
“Covid-19 and the governor’s shutdown orders have been incredibly damaging to Minnesotans,” said Senator Scott Newman (R-Hutchinson). “In addition to the economic hardship and the risk of contracting the virus, we have seen a spike in mental health struggles and substance abuse issues. The final HHS bill takes important steps to lower health care costs for Minnesotans, support people with mental health and substance abuse struggles, and invest in individuals with disabilities who live independently.”
Mother & Their Babies
The Senate fought and succeeded in providing crucial support for mothers and their young children. We have seen maternal outcomes in the United States lag behind other industrialized nations. Key provisions to support mothers and their babies include funding for home visiting grants to help with nursing, expanded grants for high-risk pregnancies, and a study to improve maternal outcomes. The bill also expands MA post-partum eligibility to twelve months and enacts the Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act.
Telehealth
The Senate has strongly advocated to encourage innovations in our health care system. One of the biggest innovations today is the emergence of telehealth care, which this budget prioritizes through key investments to improve access and lower costs. The bill makes significant investments in the expansion of telehealth services and permanently adds mental health and substance use disorder to the list of eligible services. Health plans in Minnesota will be required to cover benefits delivered through telehealth the same as any other benefit covered in the health plan. The rapid emergence and expansion leading to the significant investment in telehealth has led to the inclusion of a requirement for MDH and DHS to study the impact of the expansion and payment parity for private health insurance and public health care programs.
Mental & Behavioral Health
The HHS budget prioritizes mental and behavioral health by focusing on the needs of Minnesota youth and increased access to programs. The Children’s Mental Health Residential Treatment Work Group is created in this bill and tasked with developing plans to fund costs of children’s residential treatment and room and board for mental health treatment. The bill also establishes individual treatment plans for children in outpatient services, day treatment, home-based treatment, residential treatment, hospital inpatient treatment, and regional treatment centers that provide mental health services for children. Grants to address mental health and substance abuse in school is included by funding School-Linked Behavioral Health services. Substance use disorders for adults are also addressed in this section, establishing a SUD Community of Practice to improve treatment outcomes, and reducing unnecessary paperwork in treatments, and a rate increase for certain substance use programs.
Reinsurance
Reinsurance is a successful program brought forward in 2017 and will continue the program through the 2022 Benefit Year. This section reaffirms the commitment to make health care more affordable to all Minnesotans and stabilizes our health insurance market. Through reinsurance, Minnesota will offer some of the lowest health insurance rates in the country.
Disability Support
The disability section of this budget broadens availability to programs while prioritizing our most vulnerable populations. A package for Personal Care Attendants (PCAs) includes an increase in rates for the PCA and home care providers. Grants to increase independent living and quality of life among the disability community in Minnesota include Parent-to-Parent Peer Support grants, Customized Living Quality Improvement grants, Home and Community-based Services for Developmental Disabilities, and more important programs that help these communities. This section supports the disability community by pouring money into the most meaningful and helpful programs to give each and every person the opportunity to live a good, safe life.