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HUD has released the Fiscal Year 2026 Fair Market Rents (FMRs), which are now available on their website. These new rates will take effect on October 1, 2025, unless HUD receives valid reevaluation requests for specific areas, as outlined in its August 22nd Federal Register notice. The public has until September 22nd to submit comments. 

To assist you in setting budget revenue goals for the coming year, providers of affordable housing with rents based on HUD’s published FMR’s should refer to the link above for the rent that is appropriate for your county.  

It’s not too late to register for Annual Meeting! Online Conference registration will close on Thursday, Sept. 11 at 11:59 p.m.

New for our Independent Senior Living providers – the inaugural Independent Living Operators Conference is coming to Bloomington on October 29.

Executives in senior services nutrition and culinary leadership are invited to join the inaugural statewide gathering of your peers. This virtual meeting will provide an opportunity to exchange ideas and best practices, gain insights from colleagues facing similar challenges, and strengthen your professional network across Minnesota.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced updated recommendations for flu vaccination for the 2025–2026 flu season. On August 28, 2025, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) approved the guidance that will shape flu prevention efforts nationwide.

LeadingAge Minnesota’s VP of Clinical Services, Kari Everson, recently had an opportunity to speak with Minnesota Board of Nursing Executive Director Caryn Gaytko, not to recap policy, but to get to know the leader behind the title. The goal was simple: build a stronger working relationship, understand Caryn’s leadership approach and values firsthand, and open a clear line of communication between the Board and Minnesota’s long-term care community.

September is here, which means the deadline to submit nominations for LeadingAge Minnesota’s Stars Among Us Award nominations is just around the corner – Sept. 22. Who will you nominate this year?

In late August, the public health community was surprised by news that Senate-confirmed CDC Director Susan Monarez was terminated, along with the temporary departure of three top CDC officials. The decision followed Director Monarez’s reported refusal to sign off on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccine.

The 2025 Legislature approved a transition of the nursing home case mix system from RUGs to PDPM. DHS has now produced new rates for nursing homes and posted them on the nursing facility portal.

Join us for a 3-part deep-dive webinar series covering each of the federal quality programs to help you understand the key information to effectively report data, access and interpret the reports, and use the data to improve performance and outcomes.

• Tue., Sept. 23 – Part 1: Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program (SNF QRP) and Value-Based Purchasing (SNF VBP)
• Tue., Sept. 30 – Part 2: Nursing Home Quality Measures
• Tue., Oct. 7 – Part 3: Five-Star Quality Rating System and Changes to the Staffing Domain

This webinar series is designed for nursing home staff with responsibilities related to federal quality programs and reports. Find complete details and register here.

Register now for the Sept. 12 webinar, PDPM Transition in Minnesota: Strategies and Budgeting for Success. In what is one of the biggest changes in nursing home reimbursement in recent years, effective Oct. 1 the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) will be implemented for long-term care reimbursement. This will transition the nursing home case mix system to using the PDPM nursing weights to adjust rates instead of RUGs-IV weights.

This webinar will cover key operational and care delivery strategies to optimize reimbursement under the PDPM system, help identify budget implications, and provide planning and implementation steps for smooth organization change during the transition.

Register here by Sept. 9.

During our 2026 Institute & Expo, we’re excited to feature photos of residents centered on our Institute theme of Changemakers.

Feature Your Residents

To achieve this, we’re launching a photo contest to help us shine a light on the incredible individuals living in your communities—residents who are redefining aging, living with purpose, and making a difference in their own unique ways.

Whether it’s someone mentoring others, starting a new chapter in life, advocating for their peers, or simply living each day with vibrancy and intention—we want to see the moments that move you.

Submit your photos here for a chance to win!

What We’re Looking For

If you have upcoming events at your community – whether simple things like exercise classes, or something larger in scale like a community event – these present great opportunities to capture images of your residents. We know you help your residents live meaningful lives as they age, and we’d love to help uplift those moments to inspire others.

Contest Highlights:

• Open to all LeadingAge Minnesota member organizations
• Submit up to three original photographs that reflect the theme of Changemakers
• Include a short description
• Deadline: Oct. 29, 2025
• Voting on finalists will occur during 2026 Institute General Session

Click here to submit your photos.

LeadingAge learned this week of a move within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to execute on President Trump’s March 1 English-as-America’s-official-language Executive Order (EO) by replacing the agency’s Limited English Proficiency (LEP) policy with an English-only policy.

Memo

In a memo to HUD employees, HUD deputy secretary Andrew D. Hughes stated that the EO will “enhance social and economic integration,” and reports that the agency will no longer have contracts for translation services for documents or communications, and all paper and online materials in languages other than English would be removed. HUD Secretary Scott Turner stated on Fox News, “… HUD will solely use English for all Departmental business and services. We are one people, united, and we will speak with one voice and one language to deliver on our mission.”

Previously, HUD had a practice of translating materials like resident brochures, documents, and forms into nearly 20 languages.

LeadingAge National confirmed the announcement with HUD leadership, who said that the change would take effect “immediately.” However, next steps and timelines for removing materials and ending contracts is currently unclear, and as of August 20, several translated materials are still available online through HUD’s LEP webpage.

LeadingAge National is working to save translated materials that housing providers may need in order to serve households with diverse LEP needs. Providers are encouraged to consider doing the same, particularly for documents that you use frequently for the population you serve.

The slow developing HCBS workforce incentive grant program, officially named the Minnesota Care Force Incentive Grant Program by DHS, which was created and funded by the 2023 Legislature, has just reached the point of distributing funds to providers.

Bonuses from State Funds 

Under the program, HCBS workers, including those in assisted living, are eligible for bonuses from state funds. The law set the amount of bonuses at up to $1,000, but DHS has determined that based on interest in the program across HCBS providers, that bonuses must be limited to $770. 

The DHS contractor has been reaching out to providers to inform them of which employees are eligible for grants and how to access the funds. Those providers who have received grant funds then have 45 days to provide the bonuses to employees who are on the eligible list. In addition, providers should give their employees this form notifying them that they can deduct the grant amount from their state, but not federal, taxes. 

The 2025 Legislature approved a temporary rate add-on to cover the cost of raising employees to the minimum wage levels passed by the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board. This step was taken based on strong advocacy by the LTC Imperative. We have long-argued, even before the Board’s creation, that any standards it approves which increase costs for providers must have upfront funding to be workable. 

Application Details

DHS has now developed an application and written instructions to apply for the rate add-on. They also recently produced an instructional video that talks through how nursing homes should complete the application.  

The add-on will be calculated using two months of actual wage data for individuals below the minimum standards, then annualized and calculated as a per day rate adjustment that will appear on nursing homes’ 2026 and 2027 rates in the external fixed category where it is not subject to the operating rate caps that will apply starting in 2026. Applications must be submitted by October 1 to receive a rate increase, so member nursing homes are strongly encourage to complete and return the application forms to DHS quickly. 

In breaking news earlier this week, a Ramsey County district judge struck down a provision in a 2024 session law, which raises questions about future legislatures and how public policies, including aging services, may be enacted moving forward. 

The session law in question, coined the “Megabus Bill”, was enacted in the final minutes of the 2024 regular session. It was originally advanced as a tax bill before lawmakers added a number of omnibus supplemental budget and policy bills to the language. In total, over 1,400 pages were passed in a controversial voice vote before adjournment.  
 
No immediate impact to aging services 

There is nothing immediate to be done. Many of the provisions in the Megabus bill related to aging were separately passed by both chambers as a stand-alone human services omnibus law, in addition to being folded into the 1,400 page bill. As a result, those specific budget and policy items would remain intact, even if the Megabus bill was stricken in its entirety.   

A deeper look 

The judge’s ruling was narrowly crafted to apply only to the issue raised by plaintiffs, but he left the door open to other legal challenges. Most intriguing to note, his ruling acknowledges the increasingly common practice of the legislature to rely on omnibus bills to enact laws. His ruling, along with subsequent opinions from other legal experts, has re-ignited an ongoing debate about the application of omnibus bills that make sweeping changes to the state’s budget and regulatory environment.  

For our sector, this practice has both helped aging services in providing vehicles to advance our policy objectives but has also produced setbacks when an unfavorable policy is incorporated into a larger bill that has majority support. It remains to be seen how this decision will impact the 2026 Legislature, which is scheduled to convene on February 17th of next year. 

Join us for a 3-part deep-dive webinar series covering each of the federal quality programs to help you understand the key information to effectively report data, access and interpret the reports, and use the data to improve performance and outcomes. 

Join us for a series of Nurse Lunch and Learn webinars this fall. These complimentary, members-only webinars are quick, focused sessions for nurse teams, each devoted to a specific topic with short presentation of key topics, followed by small group exercise for hands-on application. 

Operators of independent senior housing communities are invited to join the monthly networking group that is specifically designed for you! This virtual networking meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 19^th from 10 to 11 a.m.

If you are an operator of a HUD community, you are invited to join our upcoming quarterly networking group. Get together with other operators to network, share best practices, and get the latest updates related to HUD.

Join your colleagues in taking the Safe Lift: STOP for Safety Pledge – a shared commitment to protect residents and staff by reducing lift-related falls. By taking this pledge, your organization commits to implementing the Safe Lift: STOP for Safety 3-Step Process as a standard practice, ensuring every resident transfer is safe, respectful, and reliable.

Occupancy rates for nursing homes continue to show improvement, coming in at 84.8% statewide in the first quarter of this year and 84.2% in the second, both higher than any quarter since the first quarter of 2020, just before the pandemic hit.

During our 2026 Institute & Expo, we’re excited to feature photos of residents centered on our Institute theme of Changemakers.

Friday, August 15 marks three important deadlines for the 2025 Annual Meeting & Leadership Forum, Sept. 16-19 at Grand View Lodge in Nisswa.

Have you identified the people in your organization to nominate for LeadingAge Minnesota’s Stars Among Us Award nominations? This popular recognition program shines the spotlight on the best and brightest people working, living, and volunteering in our communities.

In a July Advantage article, we shared that HUD has released draft forms to implement and comply with new HOTMA requirements.

This week, Minnesota’s 4th Congressional District Representative, Congresswoman Betty McCollum, stopped by Sholom’s east campus in St. Paul for a resident town hall. Staff and residents celebrated the 30th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, a landmark law enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Discussing Real World Impacts

Congresswoman McCollum, who was the second woman ever elected to serve Minnesota in Washington D.C., also hosted a conversation with residents about the impact of H.R. 1, what it will mean for Minnesota legislators, and what to expect from Congress for the remainder of the year.   

LeadingAge Minnesota would like to thank the leadership and staff at Shirley Chapman Sholom Home East for hosting such an engaging meeting. Remember that our federal delegation are back in their districts this month, so it is a wonderful opportunity to invite them out for a tour of your community.

Contact Kayla Khang at kkhang@leadingagemn.org if you would like assistance in making the invitation.  

Cassia is pleased to announce Matthew Kern as its next president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective October 1, 2025.

The 2025 LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation Golf Tournament – held on Aug. 5 at Prestwick Golf Club in Woodbury – helped raise funds for the next round of caregiver scholarships. In total, thanks to golfers, sponsors, volunteers, and ticket sales, the event raised over $122,000 before expenses. It was a gorgeous day for golf. 

A new Nursing Home Quality webinar series is a deep dive into each of the federal quality programs. Attend the series to understand key information to effectively report data, access and interpret the reports, and use the data to improve performance and outcomes.