Post-pandemic Medicaid rollback hit Woodland Centers finances in west central Minnesota
Mar. 12---- The need for mental health services has continued to trend upward in the seven counties served by
, while uncertainty over the future of public funding for health care has the attention of the organization.
A significant drop in Medicaid revenues last year hit the organization hard, and has led it to plan for any number of possible scenarios for future state and federal support, according to Dr. Ashley Kjos, CEO of Woodland Centers, which has its main offices in Willmar.
She gave an annual update on Woodland Centers operations to the
of Commissioners on Tuesday.
Woodland Centers serves
,
,
,
,
and
counties.
The CEO told the Renville County commissioners on Tuesday that the clients whose services were paid by Medicaid — the health care program for people with low income or disabilities — dropped from roughly 70% in 2023 to 61% in 2024.
"That's a huge shift for us and that means hundreds of thousands of dollars," Kjos told the commissioners.
As a result, Woodland Centers provided a lot of care for which it was not compensated, she explained.
Kjos said she believes that a lot of the shift was due to the rollback in Medicaid that occurred in 2023-2024. Many who had been automatically enrolled or eligible for Medicaid assistance during the pandemic were dropped from the program. Many had not enrolled or re-enrolled, she added, even though they may have been eligible.
Most of Woodland Centers funding is based on fees for services. Medicaid is typically responsible for about 70% of the revenues from fees. Medicare — the health insurance program largely for people 65 years of age or older — usually is responsible for 8%. The remainder of the funding comes from fees to commercial insurance for clients or from grant programs, according to Kjos.
Last year, Woodland Centers served a total of 4,762 clients, which is in line with an upward trend tracked in recent years. The year before, 2023, was an anomaly, showing an increase to 5,324 clients. Kjos said she does not know why 2023 saw such a jump.
The total client numbers have been growing at a smaller annual pace, from 4,507 in 2020 to 4,646 in 2021 to 4,748 in 2022. The 2024 total seems to continue that rate of increase, she noted.
"It really, really impacted us significantly," said Kjos while speaking of the revenue loss from Medicaid.
"Honestly, at this point (there are) so many unknowns," she said when asked what the organization expects going forward. "We are preparing for every scenario and hoping the bad ones don't happen."
She described the bad ones as major cuts to Medicaid or to grant funds. Major cuts could devastate Woodland's programs and services, she warned.
The organization continues to look at ways to increase its efficiency and maintain revenues, according to the CEO. Staff are being informed on insurance. Woodland Centers is also looking at the possibility of getting navigators who could assist clients to fill out insurance forms.
The organization is also connecting with referral services and working with its partners, such as the United Community Action Partnership. Kjos pointed out that 6.7% of those it served last year are homeless. Helping those clients manage health issues such as depression are not going to be successful without addressing their need for housing. It only emphasizes the importance of working with other organizations that can help meet that need, she said.
Woodland Centers is serving more youth under age 18. Youth represented roughly a third of those served last year. It can be viewed as a positive for the opportunity to provide preventative services, according to Kjos.
Working with youths has also underscored the need for working with partners to address the needs of families with limited resources.
Woodland Centers works with 15 area school districts. Staff have reported hearing from some students who do not look forward to breaks from school: They will not be receiving the food support they receive at school, she said.
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