Committee adopts amendment aligning county-based purchasing authority with recent court rulings in HF 4467

The Health Finance and Policy Committee on March 23 adopted an A1 amendment to House File 4467 that clarifies the commissioner’s authority and enrollment procedures to align state statute with recent court decisions recognizing county-based purchasing options for managed care.

Representative Backer said the amendment "puts in line this amendment...to that court case," describing county-based purchasing (testimony referred to the program informally as 'karma') and noting the amendment provides for enrollment after Medical Assistance eligibility is met while preserving compliance with federal rules.

The committee adopted the A1 amendment by voice vote. DHS staff subsequently summarized HF 4467’s annual policy provisions, including federal conformity changes for MinnesotaCare and Medicaid technical updates, a delayed legislative report for a long‑acting injectable pilot (moved to 11/30/2026), recodification of a messy provider-enrollment statute, and explicit authority for DHS to disenroll Medicaid providers who have not billed in 12 months.

Representative members raised statutory language concerns about permissive ('may') versus mandatory ('must') authority for program integrity enforcement; DHS said current law uses permissive language and the committee can pursue mandatory changes if desired. The bill and amendment moved forward for committee consideration.