MinnesotaCare assists 2,000 people in county

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, June 28, 2008

MinnesotaCare, a jointly funded federal-state program administered by the Minnesota Department of Human Services, benefits close to 2,000 people in Otter Tail County. Families pay premiums, based on income, for medical care. In addition, a co-pay program is in place for eye care and prescriptions.

Close to 4,000 county residents, mostly the elderly and disabled individuals, received federal Medicaid assistance. A small number, 200, come under the general assistance banner.

“In all, we’re talking about $56 million in federal and state assistance,” county Human Services Director John Dinsmore said. “Of that dollar amount, close to 60 percent goes for nursing home care.”

County dollars, indirectly, are used for health care assistance. Otter Tail County employees assist with federal and state programs. However, in the case of MinnesotaCare, the county is reimbursed $30 by the state for processing applications and determining eligibility.

The subject of MinnesotaCare arose earlier this week when Dinsmore met with county commissioners as part of the preliminary budget process for his department.

People desiring to enroll in MinnesotaCare must not have other health insurance now or have had health insurance (including Medicare) for at least four months. The exception is enrollees whose health insurance premiums were paid for by Medical Assistance. Those enrolled also are not able to obtain health insurance through an employer who offers to pay at least half the monthly cost.

An additional 8,700 Minnesotans are expected to be covered under MinnesotaCare by 2011, including adults without children with incomes up to 250 percent of the federal poverty guidelines and parents with incomes up to $57,500 annually.

Roughly 666,000 Minnesotans, including those in Otter Tail County, receive health care through MinnesotaCare, Medicaid and general assistance. The programs are designed to provide subsidized health coverage to eligible Minnesotans.

This year Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed significant health care reform legislation into law. Included is a plan to streamline access to applications for state public health care programs. Another provision requires further study to improve coordination between state health care programs and other assistance programs.

General fund cuts to health and human services for Minnesota fiscal year 2008-09 amounts to $229 million. Significant transfers included $9 million from the State Special Revenue Fund to the General Fund, $50 million from the Health Care Access Fund to the General Fund, $9.2 million from the Basic Sliding Fee Child Care Fund to the General Fund and $86 million from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Fund (TANF).

Unfortunately, the $86 million transfer eliminates TANF reserves. In addition, the state spent $13 million from other dedicated funds as well as $500 million from the state budget reserves to balance the budget at the end of the 2008 legislative session.

Dinsmore and the five-person county board (chairperson Sydney Nelson, Robert Block, Everett Erickson, Roger Froemming and Dennis Mosher) agreed that the aforementioned financial moves will put more pressure on the next legislative session that gets underway in January 2009.