Dayton signs bill to further expand Medical Assistance in Minnesota

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Gov. Mark Dayton has signed a bill that will further expand insurance coverage to Minnesotans through funding from the federal Affordable Care Act.

Dayton’s signature means an additional 35,000 low-income adults will be covered by federal dollars through a state-crafted Medicaid program whose recipients will include adults without children making less than $15,000 a year.  “I haven’t done one of these for a while,” Dayton joked as he signed the bill in a ceremony on Tuesday alongside its two Democratic authors in the Legislature, Sen. Kathy Sheran and Rep. Tom Huntley.

Dayton said the new, “Obamacare”-spawned program will save the state a projected $129 million for the 2014-2015 biennium. That’s in addition to $1.3 billion the state is already projected to save through the federal Affordable Care Act during that budgeting period, Dayton said.

The full implementation of the Affordable Care Act in the state has been a priority of Dayton’s since he was first elected two years ago. One of his first acts in office was to sign an executive order to expand M.A. to 83,000 low-income adults.