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Congratulations to Perham Health/Elevate for winning the 2025 Minnesota Rural Health Team Award. This award, presented by the Minnesota Department of Health, recognizes dedicated health care organizations that have made significant contributions to the health and wellbeing of their rural communities. It's presented just in time for honoring Rural Health Day, which is today, Thursday, November 20. 

LeadingAge Minnesota hosted two consecutive webinars on Tuesday, Oct. 14, to help providers prepare for the Jan. 1, 2026 implementation of Minnesota’s new Paid Family and Medical Leave and Meal and Rest Break laws.

Effective governance is the foundation of a strong organization. Your board and leadership team each play vital roles in supporting sustainability, advancing your mission, and ensuring that high-quality care remains central to your work.

The Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Employee Scholarship and Loan Forgiveness application is open until Dec. 12, 2025.

Effective November 2025, MDH is using a new Physical Environment Inspection Report to document physical environment deficiencies identified during:

Due to mounting financial losses, health insurer UCARE announced earlier this week that it is shutting down all operations and will be transferring clients to another non-profit Minnesota health insurer, Medica.

Skilled nursing facilities can now access updated SNF Provider Preview Reports reflecting quality measure data that will be publicly reported in January 2026. Providers have until December 17, 2025, to review their data and request CMS corrections if needed.

Lawmakers continue to wrestle with the rollout and confusion of the Walz Administration’s order to pause Medicaid payments for 14 services (now technically 13 due to one of the services being discontinued entirely), pending an audit by Optum.

Following recent member discussions and questions about the upcoming Minnesota Paid Leave (MPL) law, we wanted to provide clarity about its relationship with the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board (NHWSB) established minimum wages and how those NHWSB minimum wages may not necessarily be the minimum wages required to be paid for MPL compliance.

The implementation of the 2025 legislative changes and the need for approval by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has delayed the publication of the January 1, 2026, nursing facility rate notices by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS). DHS is waiting to see what CMS does and does not approve. 

DHS is waiting to issue rate notices until the end of November. At a minimum, the January 1, 2026 rate notices issued at the end of November will reflect the 2024 cost report, the PDPM transition and the operating rate caps, which do not require CMS approval. 

According to DHS, the nursing facility minimum wage rate add-on and the increase to the nursing home surcharge cannot be implemented without approval from CMS. Therefore, these two 2025 legislative changes are not expected to be on the November rate notices. 

In the meantime, if your minimum wage rate application is still under review by DHS, please make sure to continue working with the department to complete so that amount can be added to your facility’s rate when CMS approves the minimum wage funding. 

It is not known when CMS will approve the minimum wage mandate and the corresponding rate add-on, and approval of the nursing home surcharge is still in question. The specific dates of implementation for the minimum wage rule and associated rate increase will be determined upon approval by CMS. At this point, members should assume that the minimum wage requirements and increased surcharge will likely not be implemented on Jan. 1 and do not need to plan to implement them until the effective date is known. 

We’ve created talking points that providers may use with their residents and staff to communicate the implications of the CMS delay. To access these talking points, please click here. 

The 2025 legislative session brought significant changes to contracts, notifications, and terminations for assisted living providers.

Consonus Pharmacy is proud to announce that Jessica Androff, PharmD, BCGP, President of Pharmacy, has been named President-Elect of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP).

A new kind of senior living community has broken ground in Plymouth. Belleston Residence, an assisted and independent living community designed to provide high-acuity care in a residential setting will be located at 18035 Old Rockford Road.

Stratis Health has been selected by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to create an educational toolkit to support compliance with state regulations for new and current home care and assisted living providers.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) is investing in the long-term care workforce through a new funding opportunity that expands access to legal services for New Americans.

The next cycle for the Minnesota Long-Term Care Nurse Loan Forgiveness Program is now open until Jan. 6. The program provides funds to repay qualified educational loans for eligible RNs and LPNs.

At the 2025 LeadingAge Annual Meeting in Boston, LeadingAge Minnesota was honored to share the stage with distinguished partners from Kenya and Minnesota to spotlight an emerging model of international collaboration in the aging services workforce.

The 43-day federal government shutdown—the longest in U.S. history—ended November 12 after Congress approved a short-term funding bill through January 30, 2026.

Materials from the State Fire Marshal’s presentation, Fire Drills and Other Common Violations in Healthcare Settings, at the October 2025 District Meeting events are now available.

The Sholom Foundation recently announced the appointment of Ted Flaum as its new Chief Development Officer, effective October 13, 2025.

Mark your calendar for Tuesday, November 18 at noon and join the Fund Developer Network for an interactive conversation on all things fundraising in senior care.

Voters in Duluth and St. Paul pass ballot referendums on Tuesday intended to provide added protections to renters. Member organizations who operate apartments or assisted living facilities should be aware of these changes and how they may affect their operations.

The LeadingAge Minnesota QUEST Report is now available for second quarter 2025. This quarterly analytic resource for association members focuses on key trends in the senior care sector:

The Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Employee Scholarship and Loan Forgiveness application is open until Dec. 12, 2025. The program helps qualified HCBS providers fund employee scholarships and/or loan forgiveness for education and training related to a course of study that is expected to lead to career advancement within the HCBS field.

Effective Jan. 1, 2026, Minnesota’s updated minimum-wage rates and new Paid Leave program take effect. Employers are required to post updated “Minimum Wage” and “Paid Leave” notices in the workplace. The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) has released updated posters—available now at no cost—to help you stay compliant.

The ongoing federal government shutdown is now threatening key programs that help Minnesotans stay warm and support early childhood development.

Following recent LeadingAge Minnesota member webinars on the upcoming Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave (MPL) law, we received dozens of thoughtful and practical questions from providers.

On Oct. 28, the Walz Administration announced it would be using a new process for Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to review claims for certain Medicaid benefits and services before they are paid.

The ongoing federal government shutdown is now threatening key programs that help Minnesotans stay warm and support early childhood development. Funding delays for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) could leave up to 125,000 Minnesota households struggling to afford heating costs as winter approaches, while the Cold Weather Rule offers only partial protection—excluding many rural residents who rely on propane or fuel oil. At the same time, several Head Start programs across the state face the loss of federal funding, putting services for preschool children at risk.

The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act has been reintroduced – A federal bill that proposes to recapture up to 40,000 previously authorized but unused immigrant visas—25,000 for nurses and 15,000 for physicians.