Pawlenty Adviser Disputes Official's Medicaid Math

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- A top adviser to Gov. Tim Pawlenty is disputing a lower-ranking official's testimony that Minnesota will break even if it expands Medicaid health care for the poor.

Management and Budget Commissioner Steve Sviggum said Wednesday that the state's $384 million cost will be offset only partially by savings in another health care program.

A Department of Human Services division head, George Hoffman, told a legislative panel Tuesday that the expansion would be roughly cost-neutral for the state.

Minnesota is eligible for federal aid to cover Medicaid health care costs for poor adults under the health care overhaul.

Pawlenty, a likely Republican presidential candidate, opposes the Medicaid expansion, but Democratic Gov.-elect Mark Dayton has promised to pursue it when he takes office next month.

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