Board approves human services fee policy change to maximize insurance reimbursement for county mental‑health center
Summary
The county moved its standard clinic rates from a Medical Assistance baseline to insurance rates and approved a separate sliding-fee schedule for people paying out-of-pocket; commissioners approved the change after staff explained sliding-fee protections and that MA recipients will not be affected.
Blue Earth County elected to revise its Human Services fee policy on Aug. 19 to increase the county mental‑health center's standard billing rate from a Medical Assistance (MA) basis to the higher insurance reimbursement rate and to adopt a separate sliding‑fee schedule for clients who pay out of pocket. The board approved the policy change on a motion and second with no recorded opposition.
County human services staff explained the change as an effort to “maximize revenues” from commercial insurance while protecting low-income clients and MA recipients. Staff said MA recipients will be held harmless because county billing cannot exceed the MA rate for those clients; setting the standard at the insurance rate allows the county to bill insurers at full allowable reimbursement. For clients without insurance who pay on a sliding fee, staff proposed a revised sliding-fee schedule tied to income that staff said will reduce fees for those clients relative to prior practice.
Human services staff emphasized the complexity of billing categories (insurance, sliding fee, MA) and said billing staff will continue to evaluate payer mix and eligibility on a case-by-case basis. Commissioners asked whether the change would recover significant revenue; staff said they did not have an immediate estimate but would provide a ballpark figure to commissioners after follow-up analysis.
The board approved the fee-policy update to maximize insurance reimbursement and add a sliding-fee schedule to protect out‑of‑pocket clients; the measure was described as both a revenue-maximization and equity-preserving step and was intended to help address budget pressures within the department.
