News

The end of the 2024 legislative session came to a chaotic close as both chambers devolved into disorder shortly before midnight on Sunday evening.

Last night, the members of the Minnesota legislature adopted the Human Services Finance Omnibus Conference Committee Report, Senate File 5335. While the final report includes support for a handful of Nursing Homes in Minnesota, it takes major steps backwards in our shared goal of improving access to care for seniors in Minnesota and paying our caregivers a livable wage.

This year’s legislative session is quickly coming to an end, with a constitutional deadline on Monday, May 20th.

Representatives Michelle Fischbach (R-MN) and Greg Pence (R-IN) introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval to overturn the final minimum staffing rule. The resolution was introduced May 10, the same day the final rule was published in the Federal Register.

Legislative Action

On Monday evening, the House debated the Human Services Finance Omnibus Bill, HF5280.  The House position includes Long-Term Care Imperative priorities to allow LPNs in assisted living settings to work to the top of their scope and codifies implementation steps for Program for All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).

The Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board today adopted two proposed rules. One requires that starting in calendar year 2025 nursing homes to have 11 holidays where time and a half is paid. Seven of those must be official state holidays, and the other four can be other days if agreed to by a majority of employees.

Has your organization added your employer profile to CaringCareersStartHere.com, the newest resource to recruit Minnesota job seekers into senior care?

A new resource is available to LeadingAge Minnesota members that allows nursing home providers to calculate the financial impact of the staffing mandate from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

LeadingAge Minnesota and our Imperative partner will soon launch a new resource aimed at promoting careers in aging services to job seekers in Minnesota. Organizations are invited to register and update their profile on this new site.

Sam Orbovich, an attorney with Fredrickson & Byron, and a long-time Business Partner of LeadingAge Minnesota, survived a traumatic accident thanks to the acts of several heroic individuals.

On Monday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a long-awaited rule to impose minimum staffing ratios on nursing homes nationwide. 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently finalized a rule to establish minimum staffing ratios in nursing settings, a decision that has stirred significant concern within our provider community.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) recently informed the nursing homes that submitted proposals for the current moratorium exceptions round of whether they were approved.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) informed the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) that it has selected Minnesota to participate in their pilot for a risk-based survey (RBS) approach for nursing home standard recertification surveys.

Data submission for Quarter 1, 2024, is now open in the LeadingAge Minnesota Data Portal.  Data submission for all LeadingAge Minnesota Data Portal applications is due by April 30.

LeadingAge Minnesota has developed an enhanced barrier precautions (EBP) resource document that includes the topmost questions from members.

Launched in January, this is the fourth month of our #ElevateAging campaign. Don’t worry if you missed out so far; you can jump in anytime! Designed to reshape perceptions and inspire a positive narrative around aging services, this year-long initiative promises to bring together our community in a celebration of resilience, compassion, and dedication.

This week in St. Paul, SF 1969, a bill supported by the LeadingAge Minnesota and its Long-Term Care Imperative partner, was heard in the Senate Human Services Committee. This marks progress in our efforts to improve the assisted living statutes to improve affordability and ease workforce burdens.

LeadingAge Minnesota continuously gathers feedback from data portal users on ways to improve the Data Portal’s effectiveness and has added several enhancements to the site.

Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released QSO-20-08-NH, which outlines the required use of enhanced barrier precautions in nursing homes starting April 1, 2024.