Conference committee nixes meat raffle prize increase, insurance loophole fix

The conference committee report on the omnibus commerce policy bill is ready to go.

But when the vote on the report will take place is unknown.

Among the bill’s provisions, a crackdown on health insurance companies’ coverage of home care nursing services and an increase in the maximum value of meat raffle prizes didn’t make the cut.

The chairs of the House and Senate commerce committees were ready to wrap up the conference committee’s work on HF4188*/SF4365 Wednesday night, but conferees held off on a vote, with co-chair Sen. Matt Klein (DFL-Mendota Heights) concluding, “We’ll see what happens in the coming 48 hours.”

Klein clarified in a Thursday press conference that the chairs have agreed to keep the report open for the final days the Legislature can take action, with the hope that an agreement can be reached to help families whose health insurance providers have capped their home care nursing services for their children who have complex medical needs.

“We are ready to close the bill, but we have left it open because the three chairs feel so firmly that this needs to be resolved this session,” he said.

Insurance coverage

Parents told the conference committee Tuesday about problems caused by their health insurance providers capping coverage of home care nursing services to 120 visits for their children.

The Senate’s omnibus commerce policy bill called for banning health plans from imposing quantity limits on that coverage. However on Wednesday, conferees instead adopted an amendment that would direct the Department of Commerce to evaluate health plans’ coverage of home care nursing services in accordance with state law on mandated health benefits and submit a report to legislators by Jan. 15, 2027. The evaluation would need to include the fiscal impacts to Medical Assistance.

Conferees said it’s not the end of the discussion and they’ll continue to fight for the families. Rep. Erin Koegel (DFL-Spring Lake Park) said reaching a solution has been difficult at the committee level and Klein added that they’ve asked legislative leaders to find a solution this session.

Rep. Tim O'Driscoll (R-Sartell) wished they could have found out about it from the Department of Commerce earlier in the session. Even if a temporary solution is found in the next few days, the evaluation would help find a permanent solution.

“This is not ideal, but it is prudent for us to be able to move forward to keep this thing moving because it’s important to all of us and it’s important to families out there as well,” he said.

Lawmakers and families again made a plea for a solution at a Thursday press conference.

[MORE: Watch the press conference]

“There is a very clear distinction, as we’ve heard, between home care visits and home nursing services. It’s in our law, it’s in our statutes and it has been misinterpreted by the health plans and by the Department of Commerce,” Klein said. “We need to correct this immediately so that these children and these families return to the good care that Minnesota expects of our neighbors.”

Meat raffle prizes

The provision that increases the value of meat raffle prizes to $200 was defeated twice by the conference committee Wednesday.

First, a motion to adopt the provision was defeated without the House DFL members’ support. Then later in the day, lack of support from House Republicans defeated an amendment that would increase the meat raffle prizes’ value to $200, ban online sweepstakes games and revenue from illegal markets, and add hasenpfeffer to the list of social skill games for tournaments.

Now that the provision is defeated, supporters are pushing for the measure to pass in an individual bill, holding a “Rally for the Raffle” press conference Thursday to bring attention to the proposal.

[MORE: Watch the press conference]

Sen. Zach Duckworth (R-Lakeville) sponsors the original bill for the measure, SF4515, and is a member of the conference committee. The bill should pass this session and not end up in “legislative purgatory,” he said.

The Senate made a procedural move Thursday to move his bill to the floor for a possible future vote.

“If we can come to some sort of agreement or get people on board, perhaps that language can get added to that conference committee report,” Duckworth said. But the Senate’s action is another avenue to potentially pass the bill into law.

Rep. Jim Nash (R-Waconia) sponsors HF4090, the companion bill. He said it was “wildly popular” in the Legislature and sailed through committees this session without any “no” votes.

“It is about investing in the community. What I am asking is to not hold this bill up in exchange for something that is the owner of a little more controversy. This is a completely noncontroversial bill and to play politics with this is just so unfortunate and so un-Minnesotan,” he said.

He wants House DFL leadership to also allow the individual bill to get a floor vote.

Notable report provisions

The conference committee adopted changes Wednesday to the unclaimed property statute that would allow virtual currency to be presumed abandoned three years after the apparent owner’s latest indication of interest in it. It also adopted an exemption for certain property held in tax-deferred accounts and adopted language on when prepayment of funeral-related expenses is considered abandoned.

Other amendments adopted by the committee would:

• raise the limit on deposits into the Consumer Protection Restitution Account to $10 million and implement a formula for restitution payments;
• change language signed into law banning nudification technology that would require a civil penalty to be deposited into the victims of crime account instead of the General Fund; and
• change the effective date of the new “Grandparents’ Happy Hour” law to earlier than Aug. 1 to allow residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States on July 4.

Left on the cutting room floor

Several provisions weren’t adopted due to votes that failed per rules that require a vote from each party to pass.

Banning pet stores from selling dogs and cats, with a grandfather clause for stores that sold or offered an animal for sale within a year of the effective date, failed to garner support from House Republicans.

A proposed prohibition on a person allowing children from accessing chatbots and their artificial intelligence companions also failed to receive House Republican support. O’Driscoll said the provision would likely be “somewhat problematic” for enforcement. He suggested that lawmakers next session establish a committee to consider technology bills and possibly work with the Department of Commerce to develop a new state statute focused solely on technology.

The conference committee also declined via a voice vote to adopt language that would make permanent the restrictions on manufacturers interfering with the delivery of medications to a pharmacy that has a 340B contract.

Other provisions

Other provisions adopted by the conference committee would:

• amend student loan standards;
• authorize a limited lines travel insurance producer license to be issued;
• require insurance lead generators to keep records;
• modify the required information included on a scrap metal copper license application for an individual or entity;
• repeal the Prescription Drug Affordability Advisory Council due to its duplication with the state’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board;
• require health insurers and nonprofit health service plan corporations to notify the Department of Commerce if they experience a significant increase in enrollees; and
• ban the exclusive use of technology like AI to make an adverse determination for benefit coverage and require a clinician review.