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HF 4909

Commissioner of management and budget directed to include detailed medical assistance costs in the state forecast, and report required.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Joe Schomacker

The bill requires forecasted Medical Assistance costs to be broken down by individual services with a concurrent report identifying which services are federally mandatory.

Introduction and first reading, referred to State Government Finance and Policy
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Bill Summary · HF 4909

Summary of HF 4909 (2025-2026) — Minnesota

Purpose and intent

HF 4909 requires the state budget forecast to include detailed, service-level costs for medical assistance (MA) and mandates a related reporting requirement. The bill adds a new subdivision to Minnesota Statutes § 16A.103 to ensure that forecast documents present explicit cost data for each MA-covered service and to accompany the forecast with a report identifying which MA services are mandatory benefits under federal law and regulations.

Key provisions

  • Forecast enhancement (new subdivision 5): Medical assistance; detailed costs

    • The state forecast of revenues and expenditures must include forecasted costs for each covered service provided under medical assistance.
    • This means forecast documents would move from high-level MA cost totals to a more granular breakdown by individual MA services (e.g., specific medical procedures, treatments, or service categories) within the forecast.

  • ** concomitant reporting requirement**

    • When the forecast of state revenues and expenditures is delivered, the commissioner must, in consultation with the commissioner of human services, provide a report to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over medical assistance.
    • The report must include:
    • The detailed MA service cost information described above (the per-service forecast data).
    • An identification of which MA-covered services are mandatory benefits under federal law and regulations.

Who would be affected

  • State fiscal agencies:
    • Minnesota Management and Budget (the Commissioner's office) would be responsible for producing the enhanced forecast and the accompanying report.
  • Department of Human Services:
    • Coordination with MMB is required to assemble the detailed cost information for MA services.
  • Legislative committees:
    • The chairs and ranking minority members of committees with jurisdiction over medical assistance would receive the new forecast report, including the section identifying mandatory federal MA benefits.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Authority and amendment:
    • The bill would amend Minnesota Statutes 2024, § 16A.103, by adding a new subdivision (Subd. 5) to codify the requirement for detailed MA cost data in the forecast and the related reporting.
  • Reporting timing:
    • The required report is due at the time the forecast of state revenues and expenditures is delivered. The report must be prepared in consultation with the Commissioner of Human Services.
  • Status and actions:
    • As of the introduced text, HF 4909 has been introduced and referred to the State Government Finance and Policy committee.
  • Sponsor:
    • Primary sponsor: (House) HF4909; Co-sponsor: Joe Schomacker.

Potential impacts and considerations

  • Transparency and granularity:
    • The per-service MA cost data would improve transparency around where MA expenditures are concentrated, enabling more detailed oversight and budget planning.
  • Federal mandatory benefits:
    • By identifying which MA services are mandatory under federal law, the bill clarifies which portions of MA spending are required by federal standards versus optional or state-defined services.
  • Operational considerations:
    • Producing detailed forecast data may require enhanced data collection, classification of MA services, and collaboration between MMB and DHS.

Overall assessment

HF 4909 focuses on increasing the specificity of Minnesota’s state revenue and expenditure forecasts regarding medical assistance and provides a structured reporting mechanism to lawmakers. If enacted, the bill would yield granular MA cost data in budget forecasts and a formal liaison report highlighting federally mandated MA benefits. This could support more informed budget deliberations and policy scrutiny of MA program costs.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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