News

Aging services providers across the state face dire financial conditions that jeopardize access to care for Minnesota's seniors, according to a recent survey conducted by the Long-Term Care Imperative.

On Tuesday, April 26, the Minnesota Senate passed SF 4410, its Health and Human Services (HHS) Omnibus Bill on a strong bipartisan vote (60-5). The measure includes $358 million in investments for nursing homes and improves Minnesota's Elderly Waiver rate phase-in (from 18.8% to 27.2%).

On Monday, May 2, LeadingAge Minnesota will launch an exciting new resource to allow members to track and benchmark critical workforce data. In LeadingAge Minnesota's data portal, members can access a new workforce data application containing data entry and comparison reports on employee turnover, employee retention, and vacancy rates for each quarter. 

Legislative leaders reached a tentative deal today to restore the Unemployment Insurance Trust and issue frontline worker bonuses, a stalemate that has plagued elected officials for months.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) updated its test reporting guidance, making reporting negative or inconclusive COVID-19 test results optional for nursing homes.

The Minnesota Legislature returned from a weeklong break on Tuesday, April 19. There are now just five weeks remaining for legislators to complete their work, including passing bonding and tax bills and finding a compromise on spending our state's $9.2 billion surplus.

Last week, the Office of the Ombudsman for Long Term Care (OOLTC) reached out to assisted living settings without a contract copy on file with the OOLTC per the requirement. The OOLTC asked each of these settings to submit a copy of the assisted living contract.

Earlier this week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its annual proposed rule for updating the Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS) rates for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). In addition to the rate update, the proposed rule covers numerous topics impacting SNFs, including proposed staffing standards and updates to quality reporting and value-based purchasing (VBP).

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on April 6 released a highly-anticipated and comprehensive study of the challenges facing nursing homes in the United States.

This week the House and Senate have each introduced supplemental budget bills that fund health and human services areas. We were pleased to see that the Senate bill provides significant funding for the Long-Term Care Imperative workforce agenda. Unfortunately, the House bill does not, but the bill does include a few scattered positive elements.

In a Memorandum released on April 7, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will terminate several temporary emergency declaration blanket waivers that have provided nursing facilities and other provider types with flexibilities designed to support the COVID response.

The Senior LinkAge Line will be updating their verification codes, which will have a slightly different look than previously generated codes. The change is anticipated to take effect in April.

On Tuesday, March 29, LeadingAge Minnesota testified in support of our bill to provide permanent wage increases to caregivers in the Senate’s Human Services Reform Finance and Policy Committee.

MDH recently shared data on surveys of Assisted Living facilities that had been conducted through February 2022. Since the initiation of Assisted Living Licensure, 126 surveys of conversion licensees were completed.

Back in January, DHS distributed $50 million in American Rescue Plan funding to care centers to provide hiring and retention bonuses to staff. Reporting on the use of the funds is due to DHS by end of day on Monday April 4.

Tomorrow, Friday, March 25, critical legislation being advanced by LeadingAge Minnesota and our LTC Imperative partner is scheduled to be heard in the House Human Service Finance and Policy Committee.

Two weeks ago, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and other providers licensed by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) transitioned back to fingerprint-based background studies beginning for new employees.

The Pipeline Dual Training Grant officially opened for application this week. Applications will be accepted through April 12 for up to $150,000 in grants to help employers build dual-training programs.

This week, the House Human Services Committee took up HF 2283, a bill to allow Minnesota to fully implement the Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), a nationally recognized and supported community-based model of care for frail older adults.

The Minnesota Office of Management and Budget (MMB) released the February budget forecast earlier this week. This budget will guide lawmakers as they determine their spending priorities in the current legislative session. Since the last forecast in November, the budget surplus for the two years ended June 30, 2023, has grown by $1.5 billion to a historic $9.25 billion.