UNDERSTANDING YOUR INSURANCE: mn MEDICAL ASSISTANCE
At Metanoia Therapy we are passionate about eliminating barriers to mental health services. As a result, that means we make ourselves available to answer any questions that we can regarding your health insurance.
And because it can be so confusing, one question we often hear is related to the different types of medical assistance coverage. So we’re hoping we can offer a bit of help right here.
Insurance is complicated!
It can be hard to know where to go when you have questions.
Let’s go over some basics about Medical Assistance!
What is Medicaid? Medicaid is a federal program that provides medical insurance to people who meet certain income requirements. In Minnesota, we call our Medicaid program Medical Assistance (MA for short). In general, Medical Assistance provides coverage for medical services, vision care, some dental care, and mental health services. But MA does not cover services with providers that are not in-network, so it’s important to talk to your insurance company or your county about what providers are in-network with your plan.
Are there different types of MA? You bet! And this is where it can get confusing for most folks. There are 2 primary paths to MA, depending on whether you qualified for MA based just on your income or if you qualified because of your income AND disability status.
Approved based on income only: you most likely applied for your MA insurance through the MNSure (Minnesota’s health insurance marketplace). When you get MA through MNSure, you are assigned to a managed care plan (frequently referred to as ‘PMAP’ - prepaid medical assistance program). This will mean that you will have an insurance company managing your MA insurance coverage and not the state/MHCP. When you look at your insurance card you may see the insurance company info, such as Blue Plus, HealthPartners, Medical, UCare, UnitedHealthcare MN. (important note: PMAP coverage does not allow payment to out-of-network providers. Be sure to check with your provider to ensure that they are in-network)
Approved based on disability and income: instead of applying for insurance through MNSure, you likely turned in a paper application to your county. This application is called the Application for Certain Populations. When you are approved based on disability and income, you typically have choices for who will manage your insurance coverage (MHCP or other insurance companies/managed care plan).
Choice 1: MHCP. If you prefer not to have a specific insurance company manage your MA, you can opt to have what’s called Medical Assistance Fee for Service (most commonly referred to as “straight MA”). With “straight MA”", you are eligible to see any provider that is in network with MHCP.
Choice 2: Managed care plan. Similar to the PMAP, but for folks with a disability and is called Special Needs Basic Care plans (SNBC). A benefit of choosing a managed care plan is that sometimes these offer extra benefits like a free gym membership, care coordination, and lower copays. If you choose a managed care (such as HealthPartners, Medica, UCare) you will need to see providers in network with that insurance plan.
How do I know which insurance I have?
You can also call your county’s economic assistance department to confirm what kind of coverage you have.
Check out your card.
Do you have an additional card besides your MHCP card? If you only have one card, your MHCP card, you just might have straight MA!
Does your card have an insurance company’s name on it, like UCare, Health Partners, or Blue Cross Blue Shield? Then this means you are signed up to have one of these insurance providers manage your health plan. As we mentioned earlier, this means that you are likely active with PMAP or SNBC coverage.
What medical assistance insurance does Metanoia Therapy accept? At Metanoia Therapy, we are in-network with Aetna, Preferred One, “straight MA”, Medica, and UnitedHealth. If you are not certain whether we accept your insurance, don’t worry, we encourage you to email or call us with any questions you have about this!
