Minnesota fights federal plan to drop health insurance for some adults

Minnesota's Medicaid director says she is hopeful the state will be able to fend off a federal plan to drop health coverage for 18,000 Minnesota parents.

The cuts affect families who receive Medicaid coverage that is supplemented by the state children's health insurance program, known as SCHIP. The Bush administration opposes using SCHIP money to cover uninsured adults.

State Medicaid Director Christine Bronson says Minnesota has two weeks to convince the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to drop its plan.

"I'm taking it as a good sign that CMS granted the two-week extension," said Bronson, "and that they are at least open to looking at the issues we've raised, and thinking about and considering different solutions."

Bronson says the state is waiting to see if the situation can be resolved favorably, before notifying families about their coverage.

"We've made no direct client interactions about that. It's very premature to do that if, in the end, we can resolve this without that more drastic effect."

This week, two emergency bills were introduced in Congress to extend Minnesota's Medicaid waiver until next spring.

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