The State of Minnesota is extending a pause on enrolling new Medicaid providers in 12 high-risk services for at least another six months. The freeze on new providers began on Jan. 30, 2026, in coordination with the Minnesota Department of Human Services beginning an effort to revalidate each of the nearly 5,600 providers in those programs. The revalidation is part of a corrective action plan federal officials have asked the state to complete or risk losing over $2 billion in Medicaid funding.  

​“We still have a lot of work to do to verify the providers we have before we begin accepting new applications,” said John Connolly, temporary commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services. “We’re working closely with providers, counties and managed care organizations to make sure people who rely on Medicaid services in these areas have access to care. If necessary, we can make exceptions to the moratorium.” 

​To be revalidated, providers must document their ownership, key employees and business locations and then submit the necessary documents to validate that they are qualified to provide Medicaid services. That information and documentation then is required to be verified at an unannounced, on-site inspection. A large number of providers were not able to meet that criteria in the allotted time and have since appealed their disenrollments.  

​This extension is separate from the two-year freeze on new licenses for adult day centers that went into effect on Feb. 1, 2026, and will run through Jan. 31, 2028; and the pause on licensing new Home and Community Based Services effective through Dec. 31, 2027. Also excluded by this extension is a halt on new enrollments for the Early Intensive Developmental Behavioral Intervention program (EIDBI). The pause on new enrollments in that program is scheduled to end on Oct. 31, 2026.