MN-Expands Its Medical Assistance Program

On March 1, 2011, 12,000 currently uninsured Minnesotans became eligible for the Medical Assistance Program—the state’s Medicaid program. In mid-February, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved the state’s expansion of its Medicaid program, replacing the state’s General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC). Eligibility includes childless adults under age 21 whose income is at or below the federal poverty level. Two months later, the state has enrolled about two-thirds, or over 60,000 enrollees, of the projected 95,000 Minnesotans who will be covered under the new program. Most of the new enrollees have come from two state-subsidized programs, MinnesotaCare and General Assistance Medical Care, but the state has also added 5,000 new enrollees. Minnesota, California and Connecticut are the only three states that have opened up their Medicaid programs in advance of the health care law's 2014 expansion.