ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota is eliminating MinnesotaCare health insurance premiums for poor children as the state implements a 2009 law aimed at covering 16,000 uninsured children.
Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson and Democratic House Minority Leader Paul Thissen announced the change and others designed to increase children's coverage at a Capitol news conference Thursday, soon after Minnesota slid in a national ranking of children's well-being and health care coverage. A federal waiver allowed the state to move forward with the expanded children's coverage starting this month.
A family of four making $46,000 or less will no longer pay monthly MinnesotaCare premiums ranging from $4 to $70 per child, depending on the family's income.
The state is also eliminating a 4-month waiting period for children below that income level and allowing parents to enroll their children in MinnesotaCare even if they don't sign up for health insurance coverage available through their job.
