CCAgenda_03Feb12 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

.' , Heacltli :& H~cmur~ .Seice;~ The Health and Human Services budget includes appropriations for the Department of Human Services, Department of Health, Veterans Homes, and related boards. This portion of the budget pays for hospital visits, nursing home care, welfare payments, job training, care of state institutions, regulatory activities, public health, and other services. Funding and delivery of these services is a shared responsibility of the state, the federal government, and Minnesota's 87 counties. f-leafi & l~uman'Services B~li~l~inding` `~ in .millions) ~ _.._ _ .: Percent FY 2002-03 FY 2004-05 Chanae General Fund 6,527 7,022 8°~ All Operating Funds 15,1.63 16,421 8% The Govemor's general fund budget for Health and Human Services totals $7.0 billion - a nearly 8 percent increase over the current biennium. The budget for all funds totals $16.4 billion, an increase of 8 percent. Net spending growth reflects the continued growth in the cost and number of people participating in state and federal human services programs. The Governor's budget recommendations address the cost pressures that have made this area the fastest growing part of the state budget. Key Elements of the Budget Recommendations The Governor's budget reduces health and human services spending from forecast levels but allows the state to preserve core health and economic support services for the most vulnerable people. This part of • the budget requires difficult trade-offs since protecting core services often requires eliminating optional services or eligibility. Even within more limited resources, the Governor aims to maintain a comprehensive set of services for children, elderly, and people with disabilities. The Governor maintains the state's safety net by prioritizing and re-directing existing resources. The budget includes expanded and improved mental health services for children and full funding for adoption assistance of special needs children. Even in tight budgets, the state can set its priorities to ensure that the safety net is maintained and even improved. The Governor's budget achieves significant new savings by creating a single state program for adults without children by consolidating the General Assistance Medical .Care (GAMC) program with the MinnesotaCare program and further modifying MinnesotaCare. Adults, both parents and adults without children, will be impacted by budget proposals the most, with reduced eligibility levels and increased premiums. The proposals also maintain coverage for those who opt to pay the full cost of MinnesotaCare's below-market premium prices but eliminate subsidized health insurance coverage for higher-income parents and pregnant women. Since health care programs funded exclusively with state dollars are less than one-quarter of all health spending, reductions also had to be made in the federally matched Medical Assistance (MA) program, the state's version of Medicaid. Changes to eligibility, benefits, utilization, and provider payments are some of the few tools available to state policy-makers. The Governor's budget changes include atwo-year moratorium on growth in the MA home and community-based services for people with developmental disabilities, elimination of health care coverage for undocumented people, and the elimination of a recently enacted expansion of autism services. • Governor's 2004.05 Budget 12