Cuts could end Long COVID research, communications, and grants in Minnesota, which has been a leader in state-level public health responses to the crisis.
Update, June 11, 2025: Funding for Minnesota’s Long COVID program was preserved in the state’s final budget, after advocates pushed back against the proposed cuts. See our follow-up story for more information.
Update, May 8, 2025: This story has been updated with comments from Minnesota Rep. Robert Bierman, co-chair of the House Health Finance and Policy committee, including context for the proposed budget and information about further negotiations.
Minnesota lawmakers have proposed eliminating the state’s Long COVID program by cutting all funding for its activities starting in summer 2025. This move could end one of the U.S.’s most robust public health programs to study and communicate about Long COVID as well as grants to community organizations helping address this crisis.
Republicans in the Minnesota House of Representatives, who started the 2025 legislative session with a narrow majority, have proposed major cuts across health and human services in the state. Their 2025 health budget includes eliminating Long COVID grants and administrative appropriations.
“Currently, all of our funding comes from the State of Minnesota. Without continued appropriations, all program activities — including grants and contracts — would end on July 1, 2025,” wrote program manager Kate Murray in an email to grantees and partners, shared with The Sick Times.
In 2023, the Minnesota state legislature included Long COVID funds in its health budget, making it the first in the U.S. to set up a dedicated, state-supported team to address the disease. Since then, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has conducted surveys to better understand Long COVID’s impacts in the state, raised awareness about the disease, and supported clinicians treating people who have developed it.
Based on the MDH team’s research, hundreds of thousands of adults in Minnesota have experienced Long COVID. One phone survey that MDH conducted in 2023 found that more than 40% of Minnesotans who recently had COVID-19 had “at least one symptom lasting three months or longer,” and two-thirds of those with long-term symptoms reported “difficulty performing daily activities.”
MDH’s program also includes grants to community organizations that serve people disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and Long COVID. Using the grants, these organizations have helped educate their communities about Long COVID and related diseases, improve healthcare and support options, and more.
The proposed budget cuts are “an assault on people with infection-associated chronic illnesses in Minnesota,” wrote Ben HsuBorger, advocacy director at the myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) organization #MEAction, in an email to The Sick Times. #MEAction was one of the organizations that received a Long COVID grant from MDH.
While MDH’s Long COVID efforts were primarily funded by the state, the proposed cuts follow other attacks on Long COVID science and support programs at the federal level. The Trump administration has closed the federal Office of Long COVID Research and Practice, ended a Long COVID advisory committee, and threatened Long COVID research grants.
Earlier this spring, the Trump administration also cut funding to state health departments — which hurt MDH’s Long COVID program as well as other similar programs at state and local health agencies. The federal cuts led health departments like Minnesota’s to rely more on state-level funding.
“These proposed cuts to Minnesota’s Long COVID program could not come at a worse time,” said Minnesota Senator Lindsey Port, who has Long COVID herself and advocated for the program’s funding, in a statement to The Sick Times. “As President Trump and Health Secretary Kennedy replace public health with bigotry and conspiracy theories, we must continue our state research into Long COVID — a condition that affects millions of people but which many people still deny exists.”
Minnesota state representatives discussed the budget at a hearing on Wednesday morning, at which several representatives from the Long COVID program testified. It will go through further negotiations before the state’s fiscal year ends on June 30. Notably, the Minnesota Senate did not propose cutting Long COVID funding; this proposal came solely from the House.
“While the Senate budget is encouraging, this remains a potentially pivotal moment for our program, partnerships, and efforts to support people with [Long COVID] and infection-associated chronic conditions,” Murray of MDH wrote in her email to program partners.
HsuBorger shared his testimony at the Wednesday budget hearing with The Sick Times. He told lawmakers, “If you cut this funding, you won’t make the problem disappear. You’ll see us more — in ERs, in homeless shelters, and on suicide prevention lines. You’ll lose the expertise of those who know what works — and what doesn’t.”
“Minnesota has been a national leader in Long COVID,” said Terri Wilder, chair of #MEAction’s Minnesota chapter, in her testimony at the hearing. State lawmakers should be proud of this rather than cut funding, she said, and continue enabling organizations like #MEAction to respond to the Long COVID crisis.
HsuBorger encourages people with Long COVID in Minnesota to “contact their state representatives and state senators and urge them not to cut the program,” and to support the Senate budget rather than the House budget. Those outside Minnesota can share this information with anyone in the state. #MEAction is also working on a call to action with more information for the community.
“If you are a Minnesotan who opposes these cuts, I urge you to call your state legislators and tell them how important this program is,” Sen. Port said in her statement.
Update, May 8: In an interview with The Sick Times on Thursday, Minnesota Representative Robert Bierman emphasized that the budget that includes cutting Long COVID funding is a preliminary proposal, which he and colleagues will negotiate further.
“We are a divided House of Representatives,” said Rep. Bierman, who co-chairs the House Health Finance and Policy committee, “and there is a desire by one side that wants to eliminate a lot of Minnesota Department of Health Programs and [cut the] size of the agency.” Those lawmakers are particularly interested in removing certain “catch words,” one of which is COVID-19, he added.
However, the MDH Long COVID program’s status may change with further negotiations. “We’re all getting a lot of emails about it,” Rep. Bierman said, in addition to testimonies — both in-person and written — at the Wednesday budget hearing. “The message was loud and clear to committee members” that Minnesotans are concerned about the proposed cuts, he said.
“We are dedicated to making sure that this program is not removed, and we realize its importance,” Rep. Bierman said. “We want to keep up leading on critical health care issues like Long COVID.” The Minnesota legislative session is currently scheduled to end on May 19, but may be extended through the conclusion of the state’s fiscal year at the end of June, he said.
People in Minnesota can find their state representatives at this link. They can also get involved with #MEAction’s Minnesota state chapter via their Facebook group or by emailing Terri Wilder at terri@meaction.net.
The Sick Times will continue following Long COVID-related news from the Trump administration. Send us tips at editors@thesicktimes.org, or reach out to Betsy on Signal @betsyladyzhets.25 or Miles at milesgriffis.31.
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[…] the state — came under fire during Minnesota’s budget process. Republicans in the state House proposed cutting all support for the program, as part of a broader effort to reduce health spending as the state faces a potential budget […]