The 60-year anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid’s launch brought a mix of reflection as well as a call to action. Disability rights advocates used the anniversary as a rallying cry to call out the adverse impact federal Medicaid cuts could have on Minnesotans, especially those who live in rural areas.
Medicaid was created on July 30, 1965. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments of 1965, which also established Medicare. In Minnesota, the state-specific Medicaid program is known as Medical Assistance. It was implemented in 1966.
The This is Medicaid coalition is calling on Minnesota policymakers to protect the health care and supports of more than a million Minnesotans who get their health care through Medicaid / Medical Assistance. The implications of the cuts are dire. More than 140,000 Minnesotans could lose medical coverage. An estimated $1.1 billion in funding could be lost for Minnesota’s health care system. Patients face higher costs as do county governments and hospitals.
“For 60 years, Medicaid has helped Minnesotans live longer, healthier lives – it’s a lifeline for hospitals and clinics across our state,” said Gov. Tim Walz. “Minnesota will do what we’ve always done: protect access to care, support our providers, and fight for the dignity and health of every Minnesotan – no matter their ZIP code or income.” With a giant inflatable birthday cake as a backdrop and birthday treat bags for those present, advocates used the “birthday party” July 30 as a means to draw attention to their concerns.
Those at the event stated their commitment to protecting Minnesotans’ health care as Minnesota policymakers begin to implement massive federal funding cuts and shifts,. Speakers described how Medicaid meets critical needs for public health and well-being, and vowed to fight the cuts that were made after federal action July 4.
Medicaid, known as Medical Assistance or MA in Minnesota, is the nation’s largest provider of health insurance. Advocates said it is a shared responsibility between the federal government and states. They described how Medicaid has helped ensure people of all ages who do not get health insurance from their employers and cannot afford to pay for private health insurance can get the care and services they need, when they need them.
A wide range of people benefit from Medicaid, including people with a wide range of disabilities.
Sumukha Terakanambi is a public policy consultant with the Minnesota Council on Disability and involved with the Rare Disease Advisory Council. Medicaid has provided him and others with disabilities with the support they need to pursue higher education, volunteer, maintain employment, and be part of their communities. “Now, some lawmakers insist that the legislation they passed strengthens the program for the most vulnerable, but that is simply not true,” Terakanambi said. “The cuts will constrain state budgets, forcing states to make tough choices about what services to cover. Home and community-based services are optional and more expensive services. Any cuts could put these services on the chopping block. This would be devastating to the well-being and freedom of people with disabilities.”
NAMI Minnesota Executive Director Sue Abderholden discussed how harmful these federal changes will be for the entire health care sector, creating substantial barriers for people seeking mental health care. “Sixty years of work to expand and improve access to Medicaid ended this year as Congress and the president wiped out nearly a century’s worth of progress in the so-called One Big Beautiful bill,” Abderholden said. “The hope and optimism felt on this day 60 years ago is gone. We are a country bursting with abundance, and yet the law cut a trillion dollars from a program providing health care to the poorest people in our country.”
Julie Sjordal is the CEO of St. David’s Developmental & Therapeutic Services, a regional center in child and family development. It offers a range of critically needed pediatric and mental health therapies and social services to more than 8,000 children, parents, caregivers and individuals with special needs across the metro area.
Many of the children served in its mental health programs struggle to make sense of what they have experienced in their young lives. Many have not yet learned how to regulate their emotions and their bodies. “And when their parents’ childhood experiences were full of hardship or their current circumstances are profoundly stressful,” Sjordal said, “access to Medicaid and the services it unlocks is simply invaluable to the entire family’s short- and long-term outcomes.”
“We are extremely concerned about the shift in funding and responsibility to the state of Minnesota, and local and tribal governments,” said Tina Rucci, policy director for Arc Minnesota. “This law’s impact falls heavily on low-income adults without children, requiring more frequent eligibility checks and forcing them to report how many hours they work, creating barriers to consistent health care. It also harms Minnesotans with specific lawful immigration statuses, restricting them from getting health care coverage.”
Rucci said that now that the policy decisions have shifted from the federal level to the state, the work of advocates will do so as well. “Our coalition plans to work alongside Minnesota policymakers to ensure that our policies reflect the values of Minnesotans: that all of us should be able to get to a doctor, pay for our medications, take our kids to well-child visits, manage chronic illness, and get care and supports in our homes or community clinics,” Rucci said. “While it’s been a difficult year for Medicaid in its 60-year history, as long as the program is here, we will be fighting to keep it strong.”
