Renewing health care coverage
About 1 in 4 Minnesotans get their health insurance from public health care programs and need to renew their health insurance coverage every year. Here's what you need to know.
Medical Assistance (also known as MA - Minnesota’s Medicaid program) and MinnesotaCare enrollees must have their eligibility reviewed once a year to ensure they still qualify for insurance. This process is called a renewal. Renewals were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic but resumed in April 2023, to follow federal law.
How Minnesotans can prepare to renew coverage
- Update your address and phone number: Make sure you receive your renewal paperwork and text messages about when to watch for the paperwork in the mail by updating your contact information.
- Know your renewal month: Use the renewal lookup tool to find out when your renewal takes place.
- Get free help. Connect with your health plan or a navigator, and prepare to learn about other coverage options through MNsure.
- Watch for the circle in blue. Your renewal paperwork will arrive by mail, marked with a blue dot and "important information enclosed." Here's what to do next.
If you miss your deadline, know that enrollment is always open and that you may qualify for retroactive coverage.
How DHS partners and supporting organizations can help
Browse the DHS Communication Toolkits for video, digital and printable messaging in multiple languages for you to download and use in your regular communications to clients and constituents. Please share the news widely and often.
Providers are encouraged to stay up to date with the latest changes to coverage by referring to the Provider Manual - COVID-19 section.
COVID-19 testing, vaccines and treatment
Help for uninsured Minnesotans
If you’re uninsured, learn more about new COVID-19 services provided by the federal HHS Bridge Access Program, and visit the Health Care Coverage page for info on how to apply for public health care programs like Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare.
Housing help
Housing Stabilization Services
Housing Stabilization Services is a Minnesota Medical Assistance benefit to help people with disabilities, including mental illness and substance use disorder, and seniors find and keep housing. Once the federal public health emergency ends on May 11, enrolled Housing Stabilization Services providers must come into compliance with federal regulation.
- Housing Stabilization providers can no longer provide both the person-centered plan and Transition/Sustaining services to the same person, unless there is an approved exception in place.
- All person-centered plans must contain signatures of the person supported as well as the planner, and ongoing Housing Stabilization Services provider selected.
- Remote support must follow state plan limitations and requirements.
SNAP and food assistance
Emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (E-SNAP)
End of E-SNAP. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Minnesota received a waiver from the federal government to temporarily provide extra Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits known as Emergency SNAP, or E-SNAP. Most households received their last E-SNAP payment in March, 2023 and benefits returned to the standard amount in April, 2023.
End of SNAP time limit waiver. According to federal law, some SNAP recipients are limited to three months of benefits in a 36-month period, unless they fulfill work requirements or meet an exemption. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the SNAP time limit rules were waived, but that waiver is ending on July, 2023. All recipients will be transitioned to the same 36-month eligibility period that began Jan. 1, 2023. Time-limited SNAP recipients will only be eligible for three months of SNAP benefits starting July 2023, through the three-year eligibility period ending Dec. 31, 2025.
See the End of E-SNAP FAQs for more information and to view additional resources for extra food help.
Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT)
Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) provided additional food benefits, similar to SNAP, to children who would have received free or reduced-price school meals, if not for COVID-related school closures and/or COVID-related reductions in school hours or attendance. Benefit distribution to program participants with school age children and children under 5 has been completed. No additional benefits will be distributed.
See the P-EBT webpage for more information.
COVID-19 waivers ending
Waivers expiring in 2023
Expired Nov. 11, 2023: Allowing parents of minors and spouses to provide personal care assistance (PCA) services.
- Read the full announcement. Learn more about PCA services.
Expired May 11, 2023: Allowing phone and video visits in place of in-person contact for child welfare, mental health and vulnerable adult/developmental disabilities Targeted Case Management services.**
Expired June 30, 2023: Allowing adult day services to be provided remotely.**
- See the Adult Day Services FAQ and the Information about COVID-19 from Licensing webpage.
Expired June 30, 2023: Preventing termination of eligibility in LTSS programs.
- See the end of continuous coverage for waiver eligibility and medical assistance announcement
Expired Nov. 1, 2023: Allowing long-term services and supports (LTSS) assessments and reassessments to be conducted remotely.***
Expired Nov. 1, 2023: Allowing case management visits to be conducted remotely.
** Denotes a temporary waiver to be replaced by a permanent option.
***Denotes new remote reassessment policies to go into effect after the temporary waiver ends. More guidance will be communicated late summer 2023.
Waivers in effect until further notice
Moving Home Minnesota waivers, including:
- Allowing verbal approval and consent when written signatures might not be obtainable.
- Allowing phone or video communication when an MHM transition coordinator or case manager cannot meet face-to-face with the MHM participant.
- The ability to extend the 180-day transition coordination period using the Moving Home Minnesota Communication Form.
Learn more about changes to Minnesota's COVID-19 waivers due to the end of the federal Public Health Emergency.
Services that will continue
Legislative changes made to telehealth allow all eligible MHCP providers currently enrolled with the Telehealth Provider Assurance Statement (DHS-6806) (PDF) to continue providing services via telehealth beyond the public health emergency. See the Behavioral Health Division Telehealth FAQs for more information.