Public money for Patients not HMOs
The MN Patient Centered Care plan would remove managed care organizations from the Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare programs. This bill (Senate File 3612/House File 3476) will shift all current HMO enrollees in those programs to a direct payment system, under which the Minnesota Department of Human Services would pay doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies for medical goods and services directly.
Why do this? The authors – Sen. John Marty and Rep. Tina Liebling believe the bill could save the state up to a billion dollars per year which are currently spent on HMO administrative expenditures and net income (which research shows to be somewhere between 10 and 15 percent of total expenditures by Medicaid HMOs). The savings will help protect against reductions in benefits and eligibility that are otherwise likely happen because of the federal cuts to Medical Assistance. These federal cuts are estimated to be about $2 billion a year for the next ten years in Minnesota. These administrative savings could be crucial for the survival of our rural medical providers and hospitals.
Can the state do this?
MN already does this for about 250,000 people on Medical Assistance enrollment. The systems are already in place that pay medical providers directly, without the expense of paying for net income to HMOs .
Connecticut removed the insurance companies from (i.e., de-privatized) its Medicaid program in 2012 and reduced its per-person cost by 14% as well as improved the quality of care.
Oklahoma did the same thing in 2005, with similar results (although that state recently buckled to insurance industry interests and is in the process of going back to a privatized system).
Call to Action (what specific action are we taking):
We are asking our representatives to support this legislation and ask for a hearing in the Health committees in the House and Senate this session.
Email or call your MN senate and house member
Find your representatives and their contact information here:
https://gis.lcc.mn.gov/iMaps/districts/
Sample Message (voice or email):
I am _________ a constituent from (your address) [Optional: and a member of Indivisible Twin Cities].
Ask the chairs of the Health and Human Services committee in the house to hold a hearing on the MN Patient Centered Care Plan authored by Representative Tina Liebling. (SF 3612/HF 3476).
And I urge you to vote yes for the Patient Centered Care – Direct Payment to Providers bill. We need to return to what we used to do for all enrollees: direct payment of providers from DHS.
Insert a personal story of people in your life that benefit from MN Care/Medicaid or the negative impact of healthcare cuts in Minnesota on your community.
Resources: (include links to more information, videos, etc):
Video Recording of the Healthcare Action Team zoom meeting 03/4/26:
Minnesota Healthcare on the Line: Medicaid Reductions, Resistance, and Reform https://youtu.be/QcJnJgtYKeE?si=Q5fz4-e9h3jeDw0S
Removing the Middleman from Medicaid: https://pnhp.org/system/assets/uploads/2025/08/MedicaidBlueprintFinal.pdf
