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House Research home > Minnesota Government in Brief > Government Functions and Services: Family Assistance

Family Assistance Programs

The principal assistance programs funded by the state for low-income families are:

• Medical Assistance (MA)
• MinnesotaCare (MNCare)
• General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC)
• Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
• Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP)
• Group Residential Housing (GRH)
• General Assistance (GA)
• Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA)
• Child care assistance
• State housing assistance

Other assistance programs are funded entirely by the federal government:

• HUD Rental Housing Assistance
• Food Support (Food Stamps)
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

Funding and Administration

• MA, GAMC, MFIP, GA, MSA, GRH, Child Care Assistance, and Food Support are administered by counties under the supervision of the state Department of Human Services (DHS)
• MA, MNCare, CHIP, MFIP, and Child Care Assistance are funded jointly by the federal and state governments
• GAMC, GA, MSA, and GRH are state-financed
• MNCare is administered directly by DHS; some counties have elected to process applications and determine eligibility
• Food Support and SSI are federally financed
• SSI is administered by the federal Social Security Administration

Family Assistance State and Federal Spending*

($9,402 million in FY 2011)

Note: MA spending total includes Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). State MNCare spending includes enrollee premiums and drug rebates.
* Excludes SSI and Food Support programs. The state spending figures includes any county share.

The spending figures for MA, MNCare, and GAMC assume current law and do not reflect MA early expansion under an executive order by the governor. DHS has informed the legislature that if early expansion was authorized by executive order in January 2011, the department could not actually implement the expanded coverage until a later date due to the need to make computer system changes.

If expanded MA coverage under early expansion was actually implemented in January 2011, the November 2010 forecast projects spending for fiscal year 2011 to be $8.004 billion for MA and $823 million for MNCare. GAMC spending would be zero beginning January 2011, since the program is repealed as part of early expansion and former GAMC enrollees would be eligible for coverage under MA.

Related links:

• House Research publication Minnesota Family Assistance Guide (PDF)
• Legislative Reference Library Links to the World: Welfare

Originally published January 2011. The fiscal year 2011 projections are from the Department of Human Services, November 2010 forecasts of family self-sufficiency and medical programs. Other data are from DHS, MDE, MHFA, and other sources.