The release of Minnesota’s Olmstead Plan on Nov. 1 was met with guarded enthusiasm by many of the state’s advocates for improved services for the disabled. The plan, a court-mandated strategy to improve long-term services for people with disabilities, is a broad, ambitious outline, and was arrived at after nearly a full year of cooperation among eight state agencies.

The increase would cost about $86 million in the current budgeting period, and advocates are hoping there will be extra cash in the state’s coffers after the November and February budget forecasts.

A new coalition of advocates for the elderly and disabled in Minnesota is planning an aggressive campaign to persuade legislators to pass a 5 percent increase in their budget next session, which would cost the state an additional $86 million in the current budgeting period.

When the House budget target for health and human services was released last month, it was greeted with cries of disbelief. Given that the DFL-controlled Legislature planned to increase taxes by roughly $2 billion, the common refrain went, how was it possible that they planned to cut $150 million in cuts to health and human services?

On the spreadsheet outlining the details of Minnesota’s $11 billion health and human services budget, “Managed Care Contracting Reform” is booked for a savings of $135 million in the current biennium. That amounts to more than 10 percent of the $1.2 billion in cuts agreed to by GOP legislative leaders and Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration.

As HMOs seek a bigger share of Minnesota's health care business, former Minnesota Hospital Association attorney Dave Feinwachs leads a charge to see how they are spending the money

Disability activists are denouncing a plan drafted by some of Minnesota's largest health-insurance providers to save nearly $2 billion through changes to the state's public health care system.