MACHP – SF2360 A1 April 7, 2021 Page 1 of 1

April 7, 2021

SF2360 A1 – Senate HHS Omnibus Finance Bill

Dear Senator Benson, Senator Wiklund and HHS Finance and Policy Committee Members:

The Association of County Health Plans (MACHP), representing Minnesota's three County-Based Purchasing (CBP) plans, appreciates your hard work this session. For more than 40 years, and particularly since they were explicitly authorized by the in 1997, Minnesota’s CBP plans have played a vital role in delivering dependable access to high quality, cost-effective health care for hundreds of thousands of MHCP participants. 22 Minnesota counties participate in CBP, and another 11 have joined PrimeWest Health to begin delivering care in 2023. CBP plans are county owned and operated and our finances are transparent.

MACHP is generally supportive of the A1 delete-all, and particularly appreciates your wisdom in rejecting PMAP benefits carve-outs. Such carve-outs fragment care coordination, remove local responsiveness and accountability, and pull-back resources critical to strengthening health care at the local level. The failures of states that have tried such carve-outs should serve as a caution.

Article 1, Sec. 40 – Dental Home Demonstration Project: MACHP supports development of such a demonstration project, but believes it would be better developed by an independent, broad-based group of stakeholders.

Article 1, Sec. 21, 30 – Minnesota-only MA Pharmacies: MACHP applauds the effort to strengthen rural Minnesota pharmacies near state borders, but realizes this could create access issues for MHCP participants living near state borders.

Article 1, Sec. 39 – Delay in MA Capitation Payments for Managed Care: MACHP members are concerned such payment delays can contribute to additional health care spending because public programs payers are mandated to pay clean claims within 30 days or face interest rate charges. The cash flow issue such delays cause can result in payers having to delay payment to providers, thus incurring interest rate charges that add to the overall cost of health care. Delayed payments to providers, in-turn, create cash flow problems for those who are financially vulnerable. The state also requires our members to continue making timely payments to IHPs and Risk Corridor payments despite delayed capitation payments, which puts further strain on plan finances.

We appreciate your consideration of these concerns, and your commitment to improving care for all Minnesotans.

Sincerely yours, Cc: Representative Representative Representative Joe Schomacker MACHP Board of Directors Steve Gottwalt Executive Director | 952.923.5265 | [email protected]