News

The Minnesota Legislature will convene on Jan. 3, 2023. LeadingAge Minnesota has finalized its member-developed, board-approved legislative priorities for the upcoming session. At the top of the list: ensuring providers across the continuum of care have the resources needed to ensure access to care for Minnesota's seniors and pay caregivers the wages they deserve.

LeadingAge Minnesota's Data Portal will include an exciting new tool in January – a compensation data portal that allows providers to benchmark their wages for key positions against other providers statewide or a select group of providers in their market area. The compensation data portal also collects information on differentials and bonuses for each position to provide a robust look at overall compensation.

Whenever a nursing home changes ownership, the new owner must apply for an operating license before taking over the operations of an already licensed organization. Aug. 1 amendments to the change of ownership (CHOW) process took effect. The current licensee remains responsible until the new owner is properly licensed. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has the updated information and forms and process available.

Beginning Jan. 2, 2023, there will be an updated Minnesota Nurse Aide Knowledge Test with improved test questions.

LeadingAge Minnesota's exciting new resource, The Workforce Data Portal, gives members a great way to see how they compare to other providers on crucial workforce metrics. Members who have submitted data for the third quarter (July through September) can view reports that provide custom comparisons.

This week, Minnesota's budget forecast for the 2024-2025 biennium showed a $17.6 billion surplus, the largest in Minnesota's history. Most of the forecasted budget is "carryforward," meaning that about $12 billion of the surplus money will only be able to be spent on one-time investments.

As Jan. 1 approaches, it appears likely that rate notices will not arrive for most care centers by the start of the new rate year. We expect that the rate increase for most care centers will be significant this year because the cost report being used (year-end Sept. 30, 2021) reflects a drop in occupancy and the considerable increase in costs that happened during the pandemic. Therefore, it is time for providers to consider giving notice to private pay residents about increases on Jan. 1.

The White House released a statement on Nov. 22 announcing a six-week campaign targeted to increase COVID-19 vaccinations nationwide. Within the message, the Biden-Harris administration has a section specifically focused on nursing homes and our existing requirement to educate residents and staff on COVID-19 vaccinations and offer vaccination.

The customized living, 24-hour customized living, and overall case mix caps in the Elderly Waiver (EW) program increase effective Jan. 1, 2023, because they are tied to the rise in care center rates. The 24-hour customized living caps will increase by 9.69%, which is the amount of the 2022 care center increase, and the overall EW caps are going up by 9.63% due to minor rate changes in a couple of EW services.

On Wednesday, Nov. 16, Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm announced that she will retire at the end of Governor Tim Walz's first term on Jan. 3, concluding a career of public service to Minnesota in the administrations of three different governors.

With a handful of races still being verified, Minnesota will no longer be under a divided state government when the Legislature convenes in January. Governor Walz will return for a second term, where he will continue to work with House Democrats, who are projected to retain the majority. The Minnesota Senate surprised pundits, flipping from Republican control to a narrow one-vote Democratic majority.

We are proud to welcome you to the new LeadingAgeMN.org, where you can find timely information and helpful resources to help you serve older adults.

In a special edition of the ALL Together Newsletter sent last week, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reviewed the assisted living license renewal information and provided a list of changes affecting assisted living facilities included in the Health and Human Services Policy Bill passed in the final hours of the 2022 legislative session.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released several changes to COVID-19 guidance over the past two weeks. Members have several questions about the nursing home vaccine mandate, source control and eye protection use, antigen testing of asymptomatic individuals, and resident screening.

Sen. Jen McEwen (DFL – Duluth) and Rep. Liz Olson (DFL – Duluth) visited with over 50 staff, volunteers, and residents at Saint Francis Health System's Viewcrest Health Center in Duluth. The lawmakers were hosted by Chet Fishel, Cami Peterson-DeVries, and Brittany Loosbrook of SFHS.

Last week, State Sen. Jeremy Miller (R – Winona) visited Spring Valley Living - a skilled nursing, assisted living, and independent living community in Spring Valley, Minnesota. Heather Sellers, Vice President of Patient Services for Spring Valley Living, hosted the visit. LeadingAge Minnesota staff also attended the meeting.

On Oct. 26, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released QSO 23-02-ALL, replacing QSO 22-07-ALL and QSO 22-11-ALL. The new version revises guidance for staff vaccination requirements and includes multiple attachments for each provider type. Nursing homes should continue to refer to Attachment A.

Most care centers will receive an official rate notice for 2023 in January, according to a Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) announcement.

Minnesota Critical Infrastructure Providers, including those in health care and some long-term care, will be asked to complete new cybersecurity requirements, according to a state executive order.

According to a new report by Clifton Larson Allen (CLA), the total cost per patient day from 2019 to 2021 has increased by 28% or $73 per day. For comparison, the per-patient costs increased by just 3% between 2018 and 2019. Rising prices are significantly impacting margins, regardless of the operator's market.