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Minnesotans have additional time to purchase health
insurance and benefit from a new law that provides an automatic 25 percent
reduction in health insurance premiums for the more than 125,000 Minnesotans
facing significant premium increases in the individual market. A special
one-week enrollment period runs from Wednesday, Feb. 1, through Wednesday, Feb.
8. More information is in a news
release on the MNsure website. Minnesotans can apply for state health care
programs, Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare, via MNsure anytime of year.
Gov. Mark Dayton announced his budget for the
2018-2019 biennium on Tuesday, Jan. 24, including proposals for human services
that provide opportunities for all Minnesotans to reach their highest potential
and strengthen core services for vulnerable people across the state. Fact
sheets summarizing human services budget and bonding proposals are available on
the 2017 session fact sheets page. Detailed budget recommendations for human services (PDF) are available
on the Minnesota Management and Budget website.
During a visit to Willmar Jan. 25, Human Services
Commissioner Emily Piper stressed the need for legislators to support a
proposal to fund a new facility for a state-operated hospital that serves
children and teens with complex mental health conditions. Gov. Mark Dayton has
proposed $7.53 million to construct a new, 16-bed Child and Adolescent Behavioral
Health Services facility. More information is in a news
release about the CABHS proposal.
Reducing the time it takes for a person experiencing
psychosis to get treatment is the goal of two new mental health pilot projects
in the Twin Cities. Called Coordinated Specialty Care, the pilot projects will
serve people 15 to 40 years old with early signs of psychosis. The word
“psychosis” is used to describe conditions that affect the mind when there has
been some loss of contact with reality. Psychosis is treatable, and studies
have shown that early treatment increases the chance of a successful recovery.
More information is in a news
release about the service.
Minnesota is one of eight states selected to pilot
a new model of mental and chemical health care, called Certified Community
Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHC), the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services has announced. Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics are an
innovative model designed to bring together behavioral, chemical and physical
health care for people with mental and substance use disorders, and serve as a
“one-stop-shop” for both adults and children who have trouble getting the
services they need. More information is in a news
release about the pilot.
Minnesota has one of the highest rates of
out-of-home care – primarily foster care – for Native American children in the
country. Native Americans represent 1.9 percent of the Minnesota population and
19 percent of the 13,612 children in out-of-home care in 2015. The Minnesota
Department of Human Services (DHS) is working to uncover the story behind those
numbers so strategies can be developed to turn them around. DHS recently
launched Native American Equity Pilot Project to research the causes, at
various decision points by social service agencies, for the disproportionate
number of Native American children in the state’s foster care system. More
information is in a news
release about the pilot project.
Minnesota’s Safe Place for Newborns law allows
mothers to safely and anonymously give up newborns to safe places such as
hospitals and urgent care facilities, or by calling 9-1-1. Minnesota Human
Services Commissioner Emily Piper called for increased awareness of this option
following the case of an infant left alone in a church Jan. 4. The law allows
mothers, or others acting with mothers’ permission, to safely and anonymously
surrender unharmed infants born within the past seven days to a designated safe
place. A safe place includes a hospital, an urgent care facility during its
hours of operation, or an ambulance that is dispatched in response to a 9-1-1
call. More information is in a news
release about the Safe Place for Newborns law.
The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and
Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University,
recognized Minnesota’s Return to Community program as part of the 2017 Bright Ideas
in Government initiative. Since its start in 2010, Return to Community has
helped more than 4,000 older Minnesotans return to their homes following a
nursing home stay. It is among a group of programs from all levels of government — school
districts, county, city, state, federal agencies, and tribal nations, as well
as public-private partnerships — that “represent the next horizon in government
work to improve services, solve problems, and work on behalf of citizens,”
according to the Ash Center. More information is in a news
release about the Return to Community initiative.
Fact sheets summarizing human services proposals for the 2017
legislative session are now available on the DHS website. The fact sheets
highlight proposals in the capital budget. Information
about Gov. Mark Dayton’s bonding proposals is available on the Governor's
Office website. Legislative reports and background information also can be
found on the legislative information page.
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