Minnesota officials and legislative leaders said this week they are working hard to rescue the MinnesotaCare health insurance program, adding that they were blindsided by a Trump administration decision to cut its federal funding.
The decision came — unexpectedly — two weeks ago, when federal health regulators approved a separate Minnesota plan to reduce premiums in the private health insurance market, leaving an uncertain future for MinnesotaCare, which covers 91,000 people often described as the working poor.
"The administration has been promising all throughout 2017 that they want to give states flexibility to innovate and control their own destiny," said Emily Piper, Minnesota Human Services commissioner. "And it just doesn't feel like that is what they are doing, and that is incredibly frustrating."
The decision has also sowed uncertainty for governors around the country who have similar requests pending in Washington, D.C., and thought Minnesota had federal assurances on the question of federal funding.
"It is a tough deal for a state to put the resources together for a proposal like this, get it filed and then have it changed at the last minute," said Joel Ario, a managing director at Manatt Health, a health consulting firm. "I think what this will do is really light a fire under the states to work together to get clarity from the federal government on exactly what they can count on."
And for the consumers who rely on MinnesotaCare, it means another stressful time.
"I feel like politicians have been playing kickball with my life," said Andrea Sorum, who has been on MinnesotaCare for three years. "And I am not alone in saying I lose sleep over it."
Republicans in the U.S. House passed an Obamacare repeal and replace bill that included elimination of MinnesotaCare federal funding. Similar attempts that failed in the U.S. Senate would also have stripped federal money from the 25-year old program.