Policy Priorities
Help struggling Minnesotans. Support care for seniors.
Minnesota’s long-term care sector has reached a critical point. The state’s senior population continues to rise while we face an ongoing and severe workforce shortage, making it increasingly difficult for seniors to find care where they live.
Policy Priorities
Minnesotans Agree – Care Comes First. Every senior in Minnesota deserves access to the housing, care, and support that they need in their home communities. Likewise, caregivers in nursing homes and assisted living facilities deserve wages that reflect the challenging work they do.
Addressing the Workforce Crisis. Our workforce is filled with compassionate and selfless individuals who provide incredible care for our seniors. These skilled professionals deserve better pay for the demanding work they do. Many caregivers are leaving long-term care for higher-paying, less stressful jobs.
The State’s Responsibility to Ensure Access to Care. As care options continue to disappear across Minnesota due to workforce shortages, families are making incredible sacrifices to care for their older loved ones. Asking our seniors or their families to travel an hour or more away to find care is unacceptable. The state must ensure families and communities can remain whole.
In long-term care, wages are directly affected by the state’s role in reimbursing providers. State leaders set reimbursement rates for care. The current rates do not provide enough money for caregivers to make a family-sustaining wage.
In addition, outdated data means that senior care settings are receiving payments that do not reflect current costs to provide care. Unless the state increases funding and makes long-overdue updates to the payment system, senior care leaders cannot recruit and retain the caregivers needed to provide Minnesota seniors with the care they need.
Legislative Proposals
HF 3979/SF 4235: Nursing assistants and medication aides training requirements modifications
- It requires the Department of Health (MDH) to provide a language accommodation to the written certified nursing assistant knowledge exam
- It expands access to training programs to become a trained medication aide
HF 3390/SF 4547: Nursing facility payment rates and elderly waiver rates modification
- It proposes to introduce a "known cost change factor," affecting calculations for direct care, other care-related, and operating costs per resident day.
- It mandates regular updates using specific data sources and modifies sections of the Minnesota Statutes related to these rates, aiming to ensure that compensation reflects current economic conditions.
HF 3391/SF 4130: Nursing facility funding for compensation-related costs authorization
- It proposes a rate increase of $52 per resident day.
- Facilities must attest that additional revenue will be used exclusively to increase compensation for employees directly employed by the facility.
- It includes provisions for both directly employed and contracted employees, specifying eligibility, the types of compensation-related costs covered, distribution plan requirements, and restrictions on the use of funds.
HF 2080/SF 1969: Assisted living facilities and services changes made.
- It proposes amendments to various statutes related to these facilities, including design requirements, minimum standards for services, and abuse prevention plans.
- The bill seeks to enhance the safety and quality of care for residents by adjusting regulatory frameworks to better meet their needs and address vulnerabilities.
- It allows a licensed practical nurse (LPN) to conduct focused assessments as they can already do in other health care and home care settings.
in our senior care settings remain unfilled
report that they have vacant positions
in assisted living caregiver positions
