The Minnesota Legislature completed its eighth week on April 17, 2026. Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP) lobbyist Megan Verdeja provides an update on key issues impacting family physicians, including HCMC funding, school safety and the latest movement on health omnibus bills.
Third Deadline Passed
The third legislative deadline passed Friday, April 17, 2026, requiring bills to have cleared all committees in both chambers. Bills that missed this benchmark are unlikely to advance without special procedural steps.
Key Issues at the Legislature
HCMC Funding
Conversations around how to support the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), a Level 1 trauma center, the state’s largest safety net hospital and an important teaching site for many family physicians and others, continued this week. While there is bipartisan agreement on the urgency of addressing HCMC’s financial challenges, significant questions remain regarding the size of the funding package, the use of local versus state revenue sources and how any solution fits within broader budget negotiations. As a result, the path forward for HCMC-related legislation will likely be determined through ongoing negotiations and could ultimately be resolved as part of final omnibus agreements later in the session.
The MAFP is advocating for stable, long-term funding to support the Hennepin Healthcare family medicine residency, which plays a critical role in training physicians who go on to serve rural and underserved communities and in maintaining access to primary care.
School Safety
School safety remains an active debate at the Capitol, with broad agreement on the need to act but significant differences in approach. Key sticking points include whether to incorporate firearm provisions and whether funding should extend to nonpublic schools. The scope of any final package remains unsettled as the session nears adjournment.
Health Omnibus Updates
Both the Senate and House health omnibus bills were released and heard in their respective Health Committees last week. Health is one of the few issue areas where both the Senate and House have passed omnibus bills out of committee. Below is a summary of these bills.
House Health Omnibus
The House Health Omnibus passed the Health Finance and Policy Committee on a bipartisan vote and now awaits a hearing in Ways and Means before advancing to the floor. Key provisions include:
- Expands the rural primary care residency training grant program to include postdoctoral psychology residency programs.
- Updates eligibility and application requirements for the advanced practice provider clinical training expansion grant and the rural and underserved clinical rotation grant programs.
- Ensures health professional education loan forgiveness appropriations do not cancel and remain available until expended.
- Establishes a process to exempt individuals from paying the fee to support the newborn screening program.
- Ensures international medical graduate assistance program appropriations do not cancel and updates fund availability rules for the clinical preparation grant program.
- Incorporates federal conformity provisions, including Medicaid work requirement implementation.
Senate HHS Omnibus
The Senate Health and Human Services (HHS) Omnibus passed its committee on a bipartisan vote, with Senator Jim Abeler as the sole Republican in favor, and now advances to Senate Finance. Many provisions mirror the House bill, strengthening prospects for a conference committee agreement. Shared provisions include:
- Expands the rural primary care residency training grant program to include postdoctoral psychology residency programs.
- Ensures international medical graduate assistance program appropriations do not cancel and updates fund availability rules for the clinical preparation grant program.
- Ensures health professional education loan forgiveness appropriations do not cancel and remain available until expended.
- Establishes a process to exempt individuals from paying the fee to support the newborn screening program.
- Updates eligibility and application requirements for the advanced practice provider clinical training expansion grant and the rural and underserved clinical rotation grant programs.
- Incorporates federal conformity provisions, including Medicaid work requirement implementation.
Provisions unique to the Senate HHS Omnibus include:
- Funds a $50 million grant to Hennepin Healthcare.
- Funds infertility treatment insurance coverage.
- Requires the Department of Human Services to reimburse critical access hospitals that convert to rural emergency hospitals.
- Funds a Hospital Stabilization Program and Community Safety Net Provider Stabilization Program.
- Funds a Rural Emergency Medical Services Uncompensated Care Pool Payment.
- Creates a Hennepin Healthcare Future Structure and Governance Advisory Task Force.
The Senate HHS Omnibus will be heard this week in Senate Finance. After passage on the floor in both chambers, conference committee negotiations will begin.
Senate Commerce Omnibus
The Senate unveiled and passed its Commerce Omnibus out of committee this week. Senate Finance will hear the bill Friday, April 24, 2026. Current provisions include:
- Clarifies that utilization review organizations (prior authorizations) cannot rely exclusively on artificial intelligence to make adverse coverage determinations — clinician review is required.
- Moves regulatory oversight of Health Maintenance Organizations and County-Based Purchasers from the Minnesota Department of Health to the Department of Commerce.
- Repeals the Prescription Drug Affordability Advisory Council while keeping the Prescription Drug Affordability Board intact.
- Prohibits television advertisements for prescription drugs covered by Medical Assistance, MinnesotaCare or the State Employee Group Insurance Program.
- Removes the July 1, 2027, sunset on Minnesota’s prohibition against drug manufacturers restricting 340B drug delivery to contract pharmacies; violations are enforceable as unfair trade practices by the Attorney General.
Key Dates
- Governor’s State of the State – April 28, 2026
- Mandatory Adjournment – May 18, 2026
Helpful Resources for Session
- MAFP Legislative Priorities
- Committee Schedules and Membership
- Daily Combined Legislative Schedule
- Senate Staff
- House Staff
