Minn. Dem eyes federal money for medical homes

A Democratic state lawmaker and gubernatorial candidate says Minnesota could get extra federal health care dollars for moving ahead with plans to coordinate medical care for those with chronic conditions.

Rep. Paul Thissen of Minneapolis is pushing state human services officials to ask for more money for tracking patients through clinics designated as medical homes.

He wouldn't estimate Wednesday how much the state could get.

Thissen is one of 11 Democrats running for governor.

Forty Minnesota clinics are in the process of becoming certified as medical homes under a 2008 state law.

The federal government pays 90 percent of medical home care for subsidized Medicaid patients with chronic conditions or serious mental illnesses under the new health law.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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