State Health Updates

• California – The California Department of Veteran Affairs has awarded $33.4 million in grants to community organizations in seven counties through the California Veterans Health Initiative, Mental Health Support Grant Program. The funding will enable community-based organizations to expand access to outpatient mental health treatment options for California’s veterans and their families.
• Florida – Florida submitted an amendment request for the Florida Managed Medical Assistance (MMA) section 1115(a) demonstration. The amendment proposes to expand the Behavioral Health and Supportive Housing Assistance Pilot to two additional regions; provide voluntary populations who enroll into the MMA program a choice of managed care plans and auto-assignment if no choice is made; transfer coverage of behavior analysis services from fee-for-service to managed care; and transfer coverage of non-emergency dental services provided in an ambulatory surgical center or hospital from MMA plans to dental managed care plans.
• Illinois – Governor JB Pritzker announced the state’s medical debt relief pilot program has relieved more than $72 million worth of medical debt for 52,745 residents. This debt abolishment is the first effort as part of the state’s commitment to erase approximately $1 billion in medical debt. SHVS has updated our expert perspective tracking state efforts to cancel medical debt and prohibit medical debt reporting.
• Michigan – Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced more than 300 locations across the state now have free contraception resources available through the Take Control of Your Birth Control program. The resources include over-the-counter oral birth control pills, emergency contraception, condoms and family planning educational resources.
• Minnesota

• • The Minnesota Department of Human Services announced the expansion of MinnesotaCare eligibility to include undocumented individuals, with coverage beginning in January 2025. MinnesotaCare is the state’s Basic Health Program for residents up to 200% of the federal poverty level. SHVS has updated our expert perspective tracking state-funded coverage programs for non-citizens.
  • Governor Tim Walz announced over $6 million in state grants to keep Minnesotans in their homes as they age. The Live Well at Home grants will support more than 30 organizations and fund services such as retrofitting residences to make them age-friendly and provide support for caregivers.
• New Jersey – Justin Zimmerman was sworn in as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. Commissioner Zimmerman had been serving as Acting Commissioner since June 2023 and the state senate unanimously confirmed his nomination on October 28, 2024. Congrats Justin!
• New Mexico – The New Mexico Health Care Authority published the Health Care Affordability Fund (HCAF) annual report to the state legislature. The report includes updates on the state’s Marketplace Affordability Program, the small business health insurance premium relief initiative, the uninsured program, and HCAF finances and administration.
• New York – Governor Kathy Hochul announced 24 community-based home care providers will join the statewide partnership to strengthen New York’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, which provides vital home care services to New Yorkers.
• Colorado, Hawai’i, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania – CMS approved section 1115 demonstration amendments authorizing these five states to provide additional years of continuous enrollment (CE) for children beyond the minimum 12 months required by law, and will newly provide CE to individuals leaving incarceration in Colorado and Pennsylvania. As a reminder, SHVS published a toolkit to support states as they pursue section 1115 demonstrations to provide CE to Medicaid and CHIP populations, with a focus on multi-year CE for young children.