Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

HF 641

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 02/07/2019 04:25pm

KEY: stricken = removed, old language.
underscored = added, new language.

Bill Text Versions

Engrossments
Introduction Posted on 02/04/2019

Current Version - as introduced

Line numbers 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29

A resolution
urging the Governor to request the Secretary of the United States Department of Health
and Human Services to designate people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
as a medically underserved population in the state of Minnesota.

WHEREAS, the federal government defines a "medically underserved population" according
to a formula that weighs a population's lack of primary care providers, experience with poverty,
increased infant mortality, and percentage of people age 65 and older; and

WHEREAS, as a population, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities meet
most of these criteria; and

WHEREAS, research shows that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
experience significant health disparities, poorer health, poorer health outcomes, higher prevalence
of adverse, chronic, and secondary conditions, a lack of access to care, higher poverty rates, and
increased mortality; and

WHEREAS, the issue lies in the fact that the designation as a medically underserved
population requires that the group occupies the same neighborhood, community, census tract, or
geographic area; and

WHEREAS, this requirement prevents people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
from receiving a medically underserved population designation because 40 years of civil rights
advocacy, antidiscrimination laws, and court decisions have been dedicated to their integration into
communities throughout the country; and

WHEREAS, designation as a medically underserved population allows people access to a
multitude of programs, services, funding streams, and benefits at the federal, state, and local levels;
and

WHEREAS, specifically, the designation can offer eligibility for special federal funding,
grants, and waivers; grants from the federal government, state governments, private foundations,
and nongovernmental organizations that give funding preferences to those working with this
population; loan repayment programs and higher reimbursement rates for providers serving this
population; and funding of targeted research that focuses on this population; and

WHEREAS, consequently, the lack of a medically underserved population designation
excludes people with intellectual and developmental disabilities from countless programs, services,
funding streams, and benefits; and

WHEREAS, most of the requirements for this designation date back to the 1960s and 1970s;
however, in 1986, Congress added a provision that allows a governor to request the designation of
a population within his or her state from the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Services under certain circumstances, a process known as the Governor's Exceptional Medically
Underserved Population; and

WHEREAS, this process allows designation for unique circumstances and populations that
do not fit the conventional definition or rating system for the determination of a medically
underserved population; and

WHEREAS, a medically underserved population designation would be a significant step
towards addressing the unmet health needs in this population and would officially recognize people
with intellectual and developmental disabilities as stakeholders in their own health care, entitled to
concrete actions to decrease their health disparities, improve their health, and reduce barriers to
their health care; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it:

(1) acknowledges the significant health disparities experienced by people with intellectual
and developmental disabilities and recognizes the benefits that could be realized with federal
designation as a medically underserved population; and

(2) strongly urges the Governor to request the Secretary of the United States Department of
Health and Human Services to designate people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as
a medically underserved population in the State of Minnesota.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is directed
to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to Tim Walz, Governor of the State of
Minnesota.