Minnesota
-
Uninsured Rate for Young Children Rose More Sharply than for Older Children from 2022-2024
Key Findings The number of infants, toddlers and preschoolers who are uninsured is at the highest level in nearly a decade and is increasing more sharply than for older children. The number of uninsured children under age 6 grew by 23% between 2022 and 2024, while the number of uninsured school-aged children grew by 17%. The charts and appendix…
-
Timeline of Fraud Against Medicaid in Minnesota
In early January 2026, the CMS Administrator, Dr. Mehmet Oz, announced a compliance action imposing large financial penalties on Minnesota ($515 million per quarter going forward), asserting that the state had failed to protect its Medicaid program against fraud. The following month, Vice President J.D. Vance, joined by Dr. Oz, announced a deferral of $259…
-
Tracking Minnesota Implementation of H.R. 1 Medicaid Work Reporting Requirements
Medicaid Enrollment Trends The CCF Enrollment Tracker uses the most recent monthly administrative data from state websites and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). State administrative data is often the quickest way to assess what is happening in a state’s Medicaid program. Minnesota posts monthly state administrative data, including Medicaid enrollment. Timely administrative…
-
CMS Weaponizes Fraud Against Medicaid in Minnesota: The District Court Rules
On April 6, U.S. District Court Judge Eric Tostrud issued a decision in Minnesota v. Oz. The case was triggered by CMS’s deferral of $259 million in federal matching funds from the Minnesota Medicaid program on February 25. In response, the State filed suit on March 2 asking the court to block the CMS action…
-
The White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud: What’s at Stake for Medicaid
On March 19, President Trump issued an Executive Order Establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. The stated purpose of the Task Force, which is chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance, is to “coordinate and accelerate a comprehensive national strategy to stop fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs, including programs administered jointely with…
-
Is Your State Leaving Money on the Table? How CHIP Health Service Initiatives Can Help States Support Children’s Access to Care
At a time when states are facing growing fiscal pressures and increasing strain on health systems, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Health Services Initiatives (HSIs) represent an often overlooked source of federal funding offering flexible financing to support outreach and targeted health initiatives to improve children’s health. This source of federally-matched funding becomes increasingly…
-
CMS Weaponizes Fraud Against Medicaid in Minnesota: An Unexpected Development
On March 19th, CMS notified Minnesota’s Medicaid Director that it has approved the state’s corrective action plan (CAP) for addressing fraud. The state submitted the CAP on January 30 in response to a CMS determination that the state was not in compliance with federal Medicaid law and that, as a result, CMS would withhold over $2…
-
Maternal and Infant Health in State Rural Health Transformation Proposals Set Promising Priorities in an Uncertain Landscape
All 50 states applied for CMS’ Rural Health Transformation (RHT) program, a $50 billion fund borne from a need to reassure members of Congress during the final debate over H.R. 1 that Medicaid cuts would not decimate their states’ rural health systems. As previous blogs have detailed, the RHT program presents a unique opportunity for…
-
CMS Weaponizes Fraud Against Medicaid in Minnesota: The State Fights Back
On March 2, the state of Minnesota filed a lawsuit against the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in federal district court. The case, State of Minnesota v. Oz, is in response to two actions taken by CMS against the state for what CMS says is the state’s failure to control fraud against its Medicaid…
-
CMS Weaponizes Fraud Against Medicaid in Minnesota: Part 2
At a White House press conference last Wednesday, Vice President J.D. Vance, newly tasked with leading a war on fraud, announced that “we have decided to temporarily halt” $259 million in federal matching payments to the state of Minnesota due to fraud against its Medicaid program. He emphasized: “…we don’t want to do this. We…
-
State by State Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment Data
This tracker shows enrollment data for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in all 50 states and DC, from January 2025 to the most recent month available. Data include total Medicaid/CHIP enrollment, as well as enrollment for children, adults, and Medicaid expansion. Historical data are also included to provide additional context for state…
-
CMS Weaponizes Fraud Against Medicaid in Minnesota
[Editor’s Note: Read Part 2 of “CMS Weaponizes Fraud Against Medicaid in Minnesota series here.] On January 6, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator, Dr. Mehmet Oz, sent a letter to the Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, notifying him that his state’s Medicaid agency was “operating its program in substantial noncompliance”…
-
Medicaid’s Role in Small Towns and Rural Areas
Key Findings Background One-fifth of people in the United States live in areas that are classified as non-urban. Residents of rural areas and small towns face additional challenges accessing needed health services compared to residents of metro areas for a variety of reasons including acute provider shortages, limited connectivity, and long distances to travel to…
-
CMS Announces State Recipients of the Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model
Last year, CMS announced a grant opportunity to boost state Medicaid agency efforts to improve maternal health in the United States. The Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model seeks to help states develop a comprehensive approach to the perinatal period that addresses the whole person’s physical, mental health, and social needs that may be experienced during…
-
For-Profit MCOs in Minnesota Medicaid: No More Welcome Mat
Like 41 other states, Minnesota requires most of those enrolled in its Medicaid program to receive services through managed care organizations (MCOs). Unlike most other states, however, Minnesota is in the midst of a policy conversation about whether to move away from managed care toward fee-for-service. In May 2023, the state legislature directed the Medicaid…
-
Minnesota Medicaid Revisits the Question: Managed Care or Fee-for-Service?
In the beginning, there was fee-for-service (FFS). In this case, the beginning was 1965, when Medicaid (and Medicare) were enacted. FFS was the way that these public programs, as well as almost all private insurers, purchased health care. Fast forward to today. Propelled by an interest in budget predictability and federal policy changes giving them…
