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The 2020 LeadingAge Minnesota Nominating Committee, chaired by Mark Anderson, CEO of Knute Nelson in Alexandria, has announced that nominations are open for board members and officers of the LeadingAge Minnesota Board of Directors and for individuals eligible to elected as Lifetime Honorary Members.   

Join us Aug. 3 to hear three new approaches to delivering alternative adult day services. Alternative adult day services became a necessity during this pandemic and the services are currently approved by the Minnesota Department of Human Services through June 2021. 

Joe Schmit, long-time sportscaster for KSTP-TV, is the featured keynote speaker at the 2020 Virtual Connect Conference on Aug. 19. His presentation, Living an Impactful Life: Building Positive Connections, delivers a powerful message about our need for human connections and making an impact on others.  

Our beloved fall tradition is going 100% virtual this year due to COVID-19. Join us the mornings of Sept. 16, 17 and 18 for the ultimate in conference convenience, flexibility and value. Registration is open, with 40% lower fee than last year. 

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has modified certain requirements for home care licensing, survey and enforcement activities. The modifications are allowed based on Emergency Executive Order 20-32  issued on April 8. 

Governor Walz on Tuesday said Minnesota continues to make progress on its work to limit and stop the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities. (Read the Release; Watch the Briefing). 

Our Connect Conference for senior housing, assisted living and home care is Aug. 19 - 20, and it’s packed full of information, updates and networking. Early bird registration ends this Friday, July 24 – register now for lower pricing! See more details on pricing and CEUS that have never been offered before! 

The LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation (LAMF) last week awarded $660,000 in COVID-19 grants to fund staff support and virtual adult day services. 

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) last week announced plans to supply rapid, point-of-care testing instruments and tests to nursing homes throughout the country to aid in the fight against COVID-19.  

In this week’s Resource Round-Up, we feature three new resources released last week: Essential Caregivers, Visitation Guidance Decision-Making Grid, and Adult Day Re-Opening 

After nearly eight outstanding years as our Vice President of Public Relations, Jodi Boyne is leaving LeadingAge Minnesota for an exciting new opportunity. She is returning to the public sector — where she worked for 16 years before joining us — to become the Director of Public Affairs for the Minnesota Judicial Branch effective Aug. 10. 

While the national prohibition on nonpayment evictions will lift July 25, there are still have ongoing restrictions in Minnesota. Governor Walz last week issued Executive Orders 20-79, which rescinded Executive Orders 20-14 and 20-73 and issued new guidance on eviction suspensions during the duration of the peacetime emergency. Both the rescission and the new order are effective Aug. 4.  

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) will soon post information about reimbursement of COVID-19 testing costs for employees to the nursing facility portal.  The new information includes a memo outlining the reimbursement policy and an updated “Form A” to submit for reimbursement of costs related to the Covid-19 state emergency, which now includes employee testing costs. 

The Governor’s Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota has developed draft recommendations and is seeking input from the public. The comment period is open through July 31. 

The Blue Ribbon Commission created by the Minnesota Legislature in 2019 to identify recommendations that would save $100 million in state health and human services expenditures over the coming biennium is soliciting public and stakeholder input on its draft final report. 

Watch this space in the coming weeks for full conference details for the 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting. Enjoy the high-quality speakers and timely sessions you have come to expect from this annual leadership conference. 

Make plans to attend the Aug. 12-13 virtual Billing University for Care Centers. This is the go-to event for billing office staff to stay up to date on the latest developments in payments for long-term care services. 

In this week’s COVID-19 Resource Round-Up, we feature new tools and resources to help you understand, design and implement the new Essential Caregiver designation in your community. 

The U.S. Housing & Urban Development Department (HUD) released a memo last week outlining plans to allocate the $10 million in Service Coordinator funding approved by the CARES Act at the end of March. The funds will support approximately 1,600 properties with grant-funded Service Coordinator programs. The agency said they plan to issue guidance for budget-funded Service Coordination and other COVID-related expenses soon.  

A monthly call is now available for HUD provider members to join others in our region for news and discussion.  Minnesota joins with LeadingAge Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana for these meetings which are scheduled for the third Thursday of each month at noon. 

The Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN), Form CMS-R-131, and instructions have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for renewal.  The use of the renewed form with the expiration date of 06/30/2023 will be mandatory on Aug. 31, 2020.

The Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging (MAAA) is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity for services to address the impact of COVID-19 and the civil unrest in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and surrounding communities. Services must meet specifications of one of the following titles of the Older Americans Act: 

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) last week released new guidance that allows the designation of an Essential Caregiver for residents of nursing homes and assisted living. This guidance represents the next interim step in encouraging safe and responsible visitation during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

On July 14, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new guidance for states with respect to the home and community-based services (HCBS) Settings Rule. Citing the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS is extending key deadlines for compliance with the Settings Rule, including the final compliance deadline that is now March 17, 2023. 

The Long-Term Care Imperative has recently finished a special analysis of occupancy data for the first half of 2020. As anticipated, the results show that the spread of COVID-19 had a major negative impact on care center occupancy in the second quarter.  However, the impact varied by region and did not hit every provider at all. 

This year’s Connect Conference (Aug. 19-20) features a line-up of timely topics for assisted living, senior housing and home care providers. Join us – virtually! – to hear about the latest developments in the roll out of assisted living licensure, the path to becoming a licensed assisted living director, and how COVID-19 is changing our field. 

As we continue to push for a clear, cogent testing strategy and reimbursement process from the State of Minnesota, we know you are faced with many decisions when it comes testing residents and staff. Our new COVID-19 “Whole House” Testing Decision Guide is a workflow process designed to help you consider what approach is best for your setting. It includes links to key resources to guide your decision and implement your plan. Resources include:

Project for Pride in Living (PPL), a nonprofit organization in Minneapolis is looking for employer partners who are interested in working together to customize a NEW training opportunity to help fill CNA positions within long-term care settings in the Twin Cities metro area. 

The $1.2 billion in financial support provided by the Emergency Housing Assistance for Older Adults Act (S. 4177, H.R. 6873) must be included in Congress’ next COVID-19 relief package. Ask your members of Congress to help the more than 700,000 older adults in HUD-assisted housing. S. 4177 and H.R. 6873 would provide key relief for affordable senior housing communities navigating the impacts of the coronavirus crisis, including: 

Organizations that participate in the Medicare or Medicaid programs are prohibited from employing or contracting with a person or vendor on the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG), List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE).