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STATE FUNDING FOR MINNESOTA ELIGIBILITY TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM (METS) <br />IMPROVEMENTS <br />Position: <br />Washington County supports immediate state funding in order to make substantial and rapid <br />improvements to the Minnesota Eligibility Technology System (METS) so that county staff can effectively, <br />efficiently and reliably serve clients. <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. Since its <br />development, the Legislature has provided inadequate funding to support a system that can operate and <br />determine eligibility effectively. <br />Because METS does not function well, counties have been forced to add staff to meet workload demands. <br />As of 2017, the projected total cost of these staffing increases will be over $27 million statewide per year. <br />The current state budget level for METS is mostly for maintenance and repair; it does not include adequate <br />funding for the development of new or additional functionality, nor achieve progress in the efficiency <br />gains needed to remove the cumbersome manual processes currently implemented in response to <br />functionality issues. Additionally, other state legacy systems, like the Social Services Information System <br />(SSIS), are unprepared to continue to operate in a modern infrastructure environment. An investment in <br />METS must be part of a larger state effort to modernize its existing software programs and systems. <br />At least $10 million is needed to achieve significant improvement and efficiencies in METS. This state <br />appropriation would bring in approximately $100 million in matching federal funds for the biennium. <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 all support METS improvements. Opposition to adequately funding METS may <br />come from legislators who do not want to spend more money on the system during the second year of <br />the biennium budget process and/or favor a different approach. <br />Previous consideration: <br />Last year the county supported a $10 million investment in METS. No additional funding was provided. <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 manage <br />the work. <br />11 <br />