Under the Governor’s Emergency Executive Order 20-12, the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has authority to temporarily waive or modify requirements so that the agency and its partners can continue to provide essential programs and services to Minnesotans safely and without undue delay during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Of utmost importance is preserving coverage for public program enrollees. DHS, in partnership with counties and tribes, is ensuring that no one enrolled in public programs loses coverage during the pandemic when access to care and support are critical. The department is not sending any need-to-renew forms to Minnesotans on Medical Assistance, Medicare Savings Programs and MinnesotaCare at this time. Closing notices are not being sent unless the enrollee moved out of state, requested closure of their case or passed away. 

DHS is restoring Medical Assistance, Medicare Savings Programs and MinnesotaCare coverage for people whose coverage was set to close on March 31, 2020. Enrollees will maintain their coverage for these programs unless, as noted above, they report they moved out of state, requested their case be closed, or passed away. 

When working with a Minnesotan whose public program health coverage ended March 31:

• Contact the appropriate county for more information if the person had Medical Assistance coverage.
• Contact DHS Health Care Consumer Support at 800-657-3672 or 651-297-3862 if the person had MinnesotaCare coverage. 

Reminder: Information about a person’s health care coverage cannot be shared without the person’s consent. County and tribal agencies and DHS continue to follow the regular data-sharing rules, which require a person’s verbal consent or signed consent to share information through the health care application form or with a DHS-3549 General Consent/Authorization for Release of Information.

Verbal consent is accepted if the person is on the phone and gives permission for his or her information to be shared.

The Assister Resource Center and Broker Service Line are UNABLE to provide any information on the possibility of reinstating anyone’s coverage for Medical Assistance, Medicare Savings Programs or MinnesotaCare. 

Information about how DHS is responding to the COVID-19 emergency is updated frequently on the DHS public website. Sign up for email updates on response efforts from the homepage.