News

The next cycle for the Minnesota Long-Term Care Nurse Loan Forgiveness Program is now open. The program provides funds to repay qualified educational loans for eligible RNs and LPNs.

The Minnesota Department of Health is hosting a quarterly assisted living update webinar for providers to learn about the most recent assisted living licensing and regulation trends.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) has updated the Minnesota Health Care Programs (MHCP) manual with two changes impacting nursing facilities.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) is reminding providers that, beginning on Nov. 13, 2024, it will no longer be mailing paper copies of background study notices to study subjects.

The Uniform Disclosure of Assisted Living Services and Amenities (UDALSA) is an important communication tool for providers to inform prospective residents and their families about what their Assisted Living Facility provides.

A recently released fact sheet by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helps providers better understand and recognize the symptoms of three of the most common serious mental illnesses: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder.

The 21st Century Cures Act, Public Law 114–255 (PDF), requires providers of personal care, including personal care assistance (PCA) and some waiver services and home health care providers to use electronic visit verification (EVV) to document that people are receiving the services that are billed to the state. Minnesota began implementing EVV on June 20, 2022.

The annual nursing home cost report form for the year ended September 30 is now on the DHS portal.

As of Monday, Oct. 21, DHS has limited account access to NETStudy 2.0 for providers who submitted background study applications between Sept. 3 and Sept. 6, 2024; were unable to pay for those studies due to a DHS technical system issue; and have not yet paid for those studies.

Minnesota assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and rental housing settings who paid property tax, or are exempt from property tax but make payments in lieu of property taxes, must provide a Certificate of Rent Paid (CRP) to residents living at their facility by January 31 each year.

A grant opportunity was announced this week for providers of Customized Living Services through BI, CADI and EW. The goal of this grant is to help providers improve overall quality of life for people who receive these services.

Changes were made to the statutes regarding Informal Dispute Resolution (IDR) and Independent Informal Dispute Resolution (IIDR) during the 2024 legislative session.

The 2025 Preventive Services in Long-term Care Grant Program has two grant opportunities available to providers in residential settings serving older adults to meet critical needs and provide services for their residents.

As Minnesota high schoolers head back to school this fall, don’t forget—they have new incentives to work in long-term care.

We often receive questions related to occupancy of secure dementia care units in licensed assisted living with dementia care facilities.

This October, the MN Dual-Training Pipeline program is hosting community conversations around the state for employers to come together and share their workforce challenges and successes, network with business leaders, and learn about the MN Dual-Training Pipeline program.

On Sept 24, the MN Geriatrics ECHO is hosting a session featuring our newest resource, CaringCareersStartHere.com, along with LeadingAge’s Director of Workforce, Anna Mowry.

The Home and Community Based services (HCBS) workforce incentive grant program being implemented by DHS is using a two-step process to determine how much funding each provider will receive.

The Minnesota Department of Health has begun assisted living quarterly update teleconference calls.

DHS recently sent an email to all the nursing homes that received 2023 Workforce Incentive Grant (WIG) funds. Roughly one year, ago DHS issued WIG payments to nursing homes.