State gets extension on Medicaid waiver

by Lorna Benson, Minnesota Public Radio

St. Paul, Minn. — The federal government has given Minnesota another two weeks to try to negotiate a waiver for its Medicaid program and preserve insurance coverage for 18,000 parents.

This is the second two-week extension granted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

At issue is Medicaid coverage for families who receive insurance supplemented by the state children's health insurance program, also called SCHIP. The Bush administration opposes using SCHIP dollars to cover uninsured adults.

Minnesota spends SCHIP money on adults because the state already insures children using MinnesotaCare dollars. In past years, CMS has given the state a waiver allowing it to use the money this way.

If Minnesota doesn't receive a new waiver, it could lose up to $130 million in federal funding over the next three years.