Walz lays out plan to give the state more control over Medicaid

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KVRR-KFGO) – Governor Tim Walz has released a proposal that he says would centralize and streamline the way Minnesota delivers human services, including Medicaid.

The plan updates a decades-old system that relies on counties and managed care organizations to run the programs. Under the proposal, the state would determine eligibility for Medicaid and manage claims processing, financial transactions and provider services.

The proposal is part of an attempt to control fraud at the Department of Human Services and comes as the federal government is withholding more than $250 million in Medicaid funding until the state lays out a plan with changes acceptable to the Trump administration.

The newly-appointed human services commissioner says the plan would dramatically increase Medicaid delivery and would ease workforce pressures at the county level.