Blue Earth County reports no immediate impacts from $259.5 million Medicaid freeze

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - The federal government announced on Wednesday, Feb. 25, that it will be freezing $259.5 million in Medicaid reimbursement funding for the state of Minnesota until it has been reassured that the state is adequately addressing fraud in the program.

The Blue Earth County Department of Human Services says ever since the decision was announced county medical assistance recipients have been calling staff with concerns.

Emily Mumford, a financial assistance supervisor, says that so far there has been no impact to local services.

Mumford says the current freeze only affects state expenses from the past quarter, which ended in December, and once the federal investigation ends, she says that funding will be dispersed.

She says if the freeze continues past the end of March into the next quarter, it could start to affect coverage for some of Blue Earth County’s 12,859 recipients, but that would only be if the state can’t find an alternative funding source to support the program in the meantime.

“What we would see is providers, especially smaller providers, who maybe can’t wait for payment, could have to stop offering services to Medicaid enrollees, that’s really the biggest fear,” Mumford said.

She says in the meantime, the best way recipients can prepare for potential gap in coverage is to stay in contact with the county, continue to apply for assistance if renewal deadlines are coming up, and stay in contact with their providers, so that if there is a gap in service they’ll be ready to resume coverage afterwards.

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