In May 2025, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) partnered with the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) at the University of Minnesota on a survey to assess how Minnesotans perceive the Minnesota Medicaid program (known as Medical Assistance in Minnesota).
Along with general thoughts on Minnesota Medical Assistance, this survey, called the MN Opinions about Medical Assistance survey, also asked respondents for their opinion on the potential changes to the program being discussed among lawmakers in Congress.
Below we summarize some of the key findings, but we also encourage you to take a look at the full Fact Sheet from MDH here for further details.
Key Findings from Minnesota Medicaid Opinions Survey
Just some of the findings from this survey include:
- The vast majority of survey respondents (93.3%) supported providing coverage through the government to people who lose job-related coverage.
- Most people reported hearing about the changes lawmakers in Congress are considering making to Medicaid. While the majority (70.7%) thought they would reduce spending, only 15.6% thought the changes would improve the health of people on Medicaid.
- Eight out of 10 respondents opposed reducing the amount of money the federal government puts toward Medicaid expansion.
- Of those who supported reducing money put toward Medicaid expansion, about a quarter (27.3%) changed their minds when they learned that states might not be able to make up the amount and that 20 million people would lose coverage nationally.
- Respondents were initially split 50/50 on whether they supported requiring everyone who is of working age on Medicaid to be working or looking for work. However, about half (23.5%) of the people who originally supported work requirements shifted to opposing them when people were told more about the potential impacts of this kind of policy.
You can read more details about these and other findings in this fact sheet from the Minnesota Department of Health.
About the Survey
The MN Opinions about Medical Assistance (Medicaid Opinions survey) is a follow-on study to the Minnesota Health Access Survey (MNHA). The MNHA is a large-scale web and telephone survey conducted every two years to collect information both on the health of Minnesotans and on how they access health insurance and health care services.
The Medicaid Opinions survey was designed to provide information about how Minnesotans perceive the Minnesota Medicaid program and potential changes to it.
Participants for the Medicaid Opinions survey were recruited from a panel of Minnesotans who participated in the MNHA and agreed to be recontacted. There were 2,000 people who completed the Medicaid Opinions survey in the spring of 2025, either by telephone or online.
While the results from the Medicaid Opinions survey were weighted to be representative of all adults in the state, there were some challenges: Both the panel characteristics, which were skewed towards more advantaged groups, and the small sample sizes for some subpopulations (e.g., by race and ethnicity) made it more difficult to generalize these findings to the entire Minnesota population.
Thus, the results should not be interpreted as applying to all Minnesotans or completely representing each of the populations of interest.
Using Surveys to Understand Health Insurance Coverage and Use
Interested in learning more about using surveys to understand health insurance coverage and related topics like access and utilization? If so, check out some of the following SHADAC resources: