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Late last week, federal officials indicated that they may withhold up to $515 million in quarterly matching funds for Minnesota’s Medicaid program amid fraud investigations.

Federal Fair Housing laws can be complex—especially when you’re navigating accommodation requests in independent and assisted living communities.

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.

Applications for the 2026 Leadership Academy are open through March 9. Leadership Academy is one of our flagship leadership programs with over 500 alumni.

In 2024, Vista Prairie Communities expanded the use of the Minnesota Resident Quality of Life and Family Satisfaction Surveys to three of their assisted living communities in Wisconsin and Iowa in partnership with Vital Research.

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.

The Workplace Violence Prevention Playbook is the ninth in a series of workforce technology solution playbooks designed to assist you in identifying technology solutions to help address the workforce crisis.

Workforce challenges continue to be a defining issue for aging services providers—and this year’s Institute theme, Change Makers, highlights solutions that are reshaping the future.

The 2024 Minnesota Legislature directed DHS to implement Minn. Stat. §256S.191, which allows people age 65 and older to access to budget exceptions when they discharge from a hospital with high care needs.

DHS this week provided updates regarding claims processing related to their November announcement of the State contracting with Optum, a third-party vendor, to conduct prepayment reviews of the 14 high-risk Medicaid services named in the executive order issued by Governor Walz.

As we start a fresh year, we are pleased to share exciting updates from the LeadingAge Minnesota team.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has reported an error in NETStudy 2.0 affecting the system’s ability to generate and update Universal Enrollment Identification numbers (UEIDs) for recently submitted applications. The UEID is the individual-specific tracking number issued by the fingerprint vendor IDEMIA and is required to complete fingerprinting.

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, LeadingAge Minnesota is sharing communication templates designed to help organizations respond thoughtfully and compassionately.

Applications to participate in this year's Leadership Academy are open through March 9. Leadership Academy is a nine-month, cohort-based program that delivers high-impact, mission-aligned leadership development for emerging and mid-level leaders in aging services. The 2026 program runs May through November. 

As a reminder, 2026 membership renewal invoices, sent in November, are due this month.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has announced the upcoming launch of the Assisted Living Competitive Grant Program, established under new legislation effective Jan. 1, 2026 (see Minnesota Statutes, section 144G.31). This program supports projects and initiatives that improve resident quality of care and outcomes in assisted living settings licensed under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 144G, or organizations with experience in assisted living operations, compliance, resident needs, or best practices.

Some members are navigating increased questions related to immigration enforcement activity reported in communities across the state—including both metro and greater Minnesota communities with higher concentrations of immigrant populations. While LeadingAge Minnesota is currently not aware of any senior living or long-term care facilities with reported ICE raids, we also know that some employers are seeing related activity—document requests or staff concerns stemming from encounters outside of work—and are seeking ways to respond proactively and compassionately.  

OnTrack Medication Aide (TMA) Training is now available. Launching today, Jan. 1, 2026, this new hybrid Medication Aide training program—approved by the Minnesota Department of Health—expands career pathways for caregivers and provides members with a flexible, statewide TMA training option.

The 2026 Institute & Expo – Change Makers – is Feb. 11-12, 2026 in St. Paul. This is 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.

Sholom is pleased to announce the appointment of Andrea Horvath as its new Chief Operating Officer, effective December 14, 2025. Horvath has been serving as Interim COO and brings more than 16 years of experience within the organization.

AscendRural, a program of Sourcewell, is inviting rural senior-serving nonprofits and government agencies to apply for their Senior Care Community Cohort — a guided pathway focused on identifying high-potential technology solutions that solve your organization’s most critical problems.

The National Association of Long-Term Care Boards (NAB) has launched the 2025-26 Professional Practice Analysis (PPA) survey. A PPA, sometimes referred to as a Job Analysis, is the practice of gathering and analyzing details about a particular job, such as responsibilities, day-to-day duties, qualifications, etc.

In assisted living settings, unlicensed staff are often the first to respond to resident situations. LeadingAge Minnesota developed member supports to assist in clarifying practical expectations for incident response, reinforcing the use of the airway, breathing, circulation (ABCs), and providing education and tools that help organizations make decisions about when, and whether, to move a resident after a fall.

OnTrack Medication Aide (TMA) Training launches January 1, 2026. Newly approved by the Minnesota Department of Health, this hybrid medication aide training program was developed in response to member requests for accessible, online training and expands career advancement opportunities for caregivers across the state.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services announced on Tuesday that they will implement a licensing pause for adult day settings starting Feb. 1, 2026.

LeadingAge Minnesota, alongside our Long-Term Care Imperative (LTCI) partner, continues to press state leaders for accountability after the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) failed to complete a critical step required to establish 2026 Medicaid nursing facility rates.

As we reported previously, DHS has informed LeadingAge MN that, due to some internal IT challenges, they will not publish Jan. 1, 2026 nursing home Medicaid rate notices during the month of December. Nursing homes need to provide a notice to their private pay residents before the rate increase is effective on Jan. 1, even if the amount of increase is not known.

Mark your calendar now and join us for these webinars happening in January:

The 2026 Institute & Expo – Change Makers – is Feb. 11-12, 2026, in St. Paul. We encourage you register your site and the people attending before the Jan. 7 early bird deadline to save $100 on your organizational site/entity registration fee!

Large events that include exhibitors and overnight accommodations can unfortunately attract fraudulent activity, including unauthorized list selling and hotel room solicitations. We encourage you to exercise caution when responding to unsolicited emails or phone calls.