Minnesota Health Care Programs

Eligibility Policy Manual

Welcome to the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) Minnesota Health Care Programs Eligibility Policy Manual (EPM).The manual contains the official DHS eligibility policies for the Minnesota Health Care Programs including Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare. It does not provide procedural instructions or system information. Minnesota Health Care Programs policies are based on the state and federal laws and regulations that govern the programs. See Legal Authority section for more information. See the Legal Authority section for more information.

Updates

Beginning June 1, 2023 policy clarifications and policy additions are announced through an Email Subscription. Anyone can sign up to receive the Email Subscription.

Recent Updates

 


DHS discontinued the use of manual letters to announce policy clarifications and policy additions effective June 1, 2023. You can see a list of manual letters published between June 1, 2016 to June 1, 2023 in the EPM
Archive Manual Letters. As of June 1, 2023 this home page is no longer archived, since it does not contain eligibility policy.

Bulletins

DHS bulletins provide information about policy changes and direction to county and tribal health and human services agencies and other DHS business partners. According to DHS policy, bulletins more than two years old are obsolete. Anyone can subscribe to the Bulletins mailing list.

A DHS Bulletin supersedes information in this manual until incorporated into this manual. The following bulletins have not yet been incorporated into the EPM:

COVID-19 Emergency Bulletins: These bulletins announce temporary policy modifications, which supersede policies in this manual, during the COVID-19 emergency. Because these bulletins provide temporary guidance, they will not be incorporated into this manual.

Prior versions of EPM sections are available upon request. This manual consolidates and updates eligibility policy previously found in the Health Care Programs Manual (HCPM) and Insurance Affordability Programs Manual (IAPM). Prior versions of policy from the HCPM and IAPM are available upon request.

Contact Us

Direct questions about the Minnesota Health Care Programs Eligibility Policy Manual to the DHS Health Care Eligibility and Access (HCEA) Division, P.O. Box 64989, 540 Cedar Street, St. Paul, MN 55164-0989 or fax (651) 431-7423.

Health care eligibility workers must follow agency procedures to submit policy-related questions to HealthQuest.

Legal Authority

Many legal authorities govern Minnesota Health Care Programs, including but not limited to:

  • Title XIX of the Social Security Act;
  • Titles 26, 42 and 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations;
  • Minnesota Statutes chapters 256B and 256L, and
  • Certain federal regulations from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Each topic in the EPM includes applicable legal citations at the bottom of the page.

DHS has made every effort to include all applicable statutes, laws, regulations and other presiding authorities; however, erroneous citations or omissions do not imply that there are no applicable legal citations or other presiding authorities. The EPM provides program eligibility policy and should not be construed as legal advice.

EPM Subscription

EPM Updates

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