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STATE FUNDING FOR MINNESOTA ELIGIBILITY TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM (METS) <br />IMPROVEMENTS <br />Position: <br />Washington County advocates for sufficient funding in the 2018-2019 biennium in order to make <br />substantial and rapid improvements to METS so that county staff can effectively, efficiently and reliably <br />serve clients. At least $10 million for each year of the coming biennium is needed to achieve significant <br />improvement and efficiencies in METS. This state appropriation would bring in approximately $100 <br />million in matching federal funds for each year of the biennium. <br />Issue: <br />Counties provide eligibility determinations and ongoing management services for over 1 million <br />Minnesotans enrolled in Medical Assistance. The inefficiencies in existing METS functionality have <br />resulted in extensive labor-intensive manual workarounds and poor customer service. At the same time, <br />280,000 additional individuals receiving Medical Assistance are being migrated from the aging legacy <br />computer system into METS. <br />Because METS does not function well, counties have been forced to add staff to meet workload <br />demands. As of 2017, the projected total cost of these staffing increases will be over $27 million <br />statewide per year. The current state budget level for METS is mostly for maintenance and repair; it <br />does not include adequate funding for the development of new or additional functionality, nor achieve <br />progress in the efficiency gains needed to remove the cumbersome manual processes currently <br />implemented in response to functionality issues. <br />Support and Opposition: <br />Counties are united in their support for improving METS functionality. The Minnesota Inter -County <br />Association, the Association of Minnesota Counties, and the Minnesota Association of County Social <br />Service Administrators are all expected to support METS improvements this legislative session. <br />Opposition to adequately funding METS may come from legislators who do not want to spend more <br />money on the system and/or favor a different approach. <br />Previous consideration: <br />N/A <br />No Action: <br />Counties will continue to manage Medical Assistance cases in an inefficient manner due to inadequate <br />system functionality, at a higher cost to county tax payers as a result of staff additions needed to <br />manage the work. <br />Financial Implications: <br />Counties have added significant staffing resources in the last several years to compensate for system <br />limitations, which will cost Minnesota counties over $27 million statewide in 2017. Although counties <br />receive state and federal funding to administer the Medical Assistance program, approximately 50% of <br />those costs are born by counties. <br />11 <br />