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The 2026 Institute & Expo – Change Makers – is less than two weeks away, Feb. 11-12 in St. Paul. It’s two days of nonstop education for everyone on your team, plus the largest aging services expo in the region, special events, and valuable connections with peers.

You're invited to join us for an unforgettable evening celebrating the people who make aging services extraordinary.

Is quality improvement or staff retention on your 2026 to-do list? Then don’t miss the kickoff of the 2026 ICan Quality Improvement Contest!

As the January 30 funding deadline for Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations nears, we are monitoring federal agency activities and potential impact on providers to help members navigate a government shutdown, should one come to pass.

On January 23, 2026, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) posted a press release directing federally-assisted housing providers to immediately “audit” tenant eligibility based on immigration status.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published a final rule updating its civil monetary penalty (CMP) amounts to reflect inflation, under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015. This change ensures that penalties retain their deterrent effect by adjusting them annually based on changes in the Consumer Price Index.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Project Firstline offered a webinar on Tuesday focused on preventing and responding to respiratory infections and outbreaks in long-term care. During the webinar they covered approaches to recognizing illness early, testing, treatment, vaccination, and infection prevention and control (IPC).

Did you know that Minnesota law allows skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) to provide adult day services without obtaining a separate Adult Day Services license? Under Minn. R. 9555.9610, subp. 2, a licensed SNF may serve up to five individuals from the community who do not reside in the facility through an adult day program operating under the facility’s existing license.

This morning (Thursday, Jan. 29), U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar officially announced her candidacy for Governor of Minnesota, stepping into a high-profile contest to succeed outgoing Gov. Tim Walz. 

As communities across Minnesota respond to increased immigration enforcement activity and related events, many organizations are navigating heightened concern, questions, and uncertainty. To support members during this time, LeadingAge Minnesota has developed and compiled a set of resources designed to help organizations prepare, respond thoughtfully, and communicate with care.

For years, skilled nursing facilities (SNF) operated in a system where data submitted through the Minimum Data Set (MDS) was largely accepted at face value. Facilities reported, measures were calculated, and reimbursement and public reporting followed. That is ending.

This week, the Minnesota Senate Human Services Committee held interim hearings on the state’s Medicaid fraud response, and its corresponding impact on access to services. This marked a return-to-work for committee chair, Senator John Hoffman, who has been recovering during the interim from multiple gunshot wounds, which he sustained in the tragic events of last summer.

New and emerging nurse leaders in skilled nursing care centers, assisted living, or home care settings will gain a solid understanding of the foundational elements that make up the nurse leader’s role by attending LeadingAge Minnesota’s Nurse Leadership Program.

The 2026 Institute & Expo – Change Makers – is Feb. 11-12 in St. Paul. Join us for two days of nonstop education for everyone on your team, plus the largest aging services expo in the region, special events, and valuable connections with peers.

As we near the end of January, we’d like to share a quick reminder that 2026 LeadingAge Minnesota membership invoices are coming due. Thank you for being part of our community and for your continued investment in our shared work.

Join DHS and Minnesota Networking in Education and Assistive Technology (MN-NEAT) for the webinar, “Assistive Technology for Aging Adults,” on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.

We hope you get to meet Kelly at LeadingAge Minnesota’s 2026 Institute next month! In the meantime, here are five things to know about our new director of assisted living services:

The LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation is excited to announce our Tenth Annual Silent Auction, which will take place as part of the 2026 Institute. All proceeds from the Silent Auction go to the Gayle Kvenvold Commitment to Caregivers Fund to benefit dedicated caregivers throughout Minnesota.

DHS announced this week that, in addition to the provider enrollment freeze for what they have deemed 13 high-risk categories, all claims submitted for services within these categories will be suspended pending pre-payment review. DHS also confirmed high-risk providers will be subject to an off-cycle revalidation process.

The 2026 Institute & Expo – Change Makers – is Feb. 11-12 in St. Paul. Join us for two days of nonstop education for everyone on your team, plus the largest aging services expo in the region, special events, and valuable connections with peers.

Schwickert’s Tecta America, a trusted leader in the roofing & mechanical services industries, proudly celebrates its 120th anniversary this year. This marks more than a century of commitment to the customer, delivering quality work, and impacting local communities.

Vista Prairie Communities is pleased to announce the promotion of Lacie Lampman to Executive Director of Vista Prairie at Ridgeway.

LeadingAge Minnesota is collecting artwork created by older adults for display during our third annual art exhibit the week of Day at the Capitol. This is an opportunity to highlight creativity, talent, and lived experience from communities across the state for legislators and policy leaders.

Applications for the 2026 Leadership Academy are now open through March 9. This nine-month, cohort-based program (May–November) provides high-impact, mission-aligned leadership development for emerging and mid-level leaders in aging services.

Is this your year to secure new grant funding? We’ve just updated our members-only Grant Grid with five new funding opportunities and now is a great time to take a look.

Join us for an unforgettable evening celebrating the people who make aging services extraordinary.

Yesterday, Jan. 14, the U.S. State Department announced a pause on immigrant visa processing for applicants from 75 countries, a change that may affect some employment-based green card cases used by long-term care providers to recruit international health care professionals. The pause is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 21.

CMS has recently moved nursing home survey and certification data into its new cloud-based system, iQIES (Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System). While this modernization is intended to improve data quality and reliability, the transition has resulted in data discrepancies that may be visible on Nursing Home Care Compare.

Late last year, health insurer UCARE announced that due to mounting financial losses they would be shutting down operations.  They are now officially in court ordered “rehabilitation” which has put MDH in charge of all UCARE operations.

As the state continues to battle both substantiated and alleged claims of Medicaid fraud, DHS has announced a freeze on new provider enrollments in 13 categories of Medicaid-funded services as part of efforts to strengthen program integrity and address Medicaid fraud.