Better understanding managed care organizations is goal of Friday health committee hearing

In the 2024-25 biennium, Minnesota is set to spend more than $15 billion for its share of Medical Assistance spending.

The number is expected to jump to almost $18 billion in the ensuing biennium.

But the topic is not one that can easily be grasped, acknowledged Rep. Tina Liebling (DFL-Rochester), who said about 1.5 million Minnesotans are on the state’s Medical Assistance program. She noted the MinnesotaCare program that aids low-income Minnesotans is significantly smaller.

“How we’re spending this money and whether we’re getting what we should be getting for it is a critical topic for us as policymakers and yet it’s so complex that a lot of times it seems out of reach, and it’s really hard for us as policymakers to do the kind of oversight and management of the system that we really ought to be doing,” said Liebling, chair of the House Health Finance and Policy Committee.

In January 2023, the Legislature hit the ground running which meant limited opportunities for traditional overviews of topics in a committee’s jurisdiction.

The goal of Friday’s informational hearing was to hear from experts, including researchers, about managed care organizations in the delivery of services to Medicaid beneficiaries. Topics included state spending, current issues with using managed care organizations as a primary service delivery mechanism, and the current status of Medicaid managed care organizations in Minnesota.