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The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) announced it has awarded $8.6 million in Live Well at Home grants to help older Minnesotans remain in their homes rather than move to nursing homes or other more expensive settings. Several of the award recipients are LeadingAge Minnesota members. 

Reminder: The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is currently accepting applications for the bonus round of the HCBS Scholarship Grant. The application deadline is April 19. You can find the application here.

A bill to fix the antiquated and onerous problem of Medicare observation days has been introduced in Congress. The Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act would require all time a Medicare beneficiary spends in a hospital to be counted toward the three-day stay requirement. 

LeadingAge has finalized its policy priorities for 2019, which includes a robust agenda on affordable housing. Funding priorities in this area include: 

The U.S Department of Labor (DOL) last week published a proposed rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that would clarify whether certain kinds of perks, benefits or other miscellaneous items must be included in the regular rate of pay. 

With the increasing workforce shortage in all business sectors, aging services organizations need to focus on what makes them stand out as a best place to work. Research shows that Millennials and Generation Z find the mission and meaning of organizations to be acutely important when making their employment decisions – lucky for us in older adult services!  

We’ve seen the light – and it does more than just allow us to see things better. It also plays a significant role in our physiology, or what we often call our “internal clock.” Light helps regulate many of our biological responses that impact our physical, mental and behavioral states. This daily response to changes in light is called the Circadian Rhythm, and the LeadingAge Minnesota Savings & Solutions Center is exploring solutions in this area to help you improve the lives of the residents you serve by controlling the type of light they see. 

It has been another busy week at the State Capitol as the House and Senate push to meet its second policy deadline on Friday. Committees are working day and night to squeeze bills into hearing agendas to keep certain pieces of legislation alive. Governor Walz released his supplemental budget recommendations and is prepping for his first State of the State address on April 3. And we are deep in the trenches advocating and testifying – in favor and in opposition – on bills that have a direct impact on our field and the people we serve. 

The House Long Term Care Committee advanced a Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS) bill to its next committee stop this week that will be helpful in some ways to DWRS providers if it ultimately becomes law, but also impose new burdens. 

Three new regional workshops have been scheduled to help you take the next step in your Safe Care for Seniors action plan. The workshops will take place May 1 in Duluth, May 2 in Detroit Lakes and May 7 in Redwood Falls. And get ready District F: we are working on a fourth workshop that will take place in Owatonna in early May. See the Workshop Conference Brochure and Register Today!  

Become an Early Adopter of Align’s Employee Engagement Solution (manager/supervisor evaluation and training!), and/or two Customer Experience Solutions and receive special pricing!  

The Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance last week to frequently asked questions on the implementation of activities associated with the final Home and Community-Based Services Settings Rule. While there is some good news in the guidance for adult day services providers, there are additional questions being raised by providers on the lack of clarification in several areas – including those looking to build and/or expand in the next few years.  

Resolving workforce challenges in our field is a multi-tiered strategy. One area to consider is recruiting retired workers and new Americans. Two LeadingAge Minnesota members piloted programs to work with tribal partners and the Somali community to improve their recruitment efforts. Read more for their stories, as well as thoughts on giving the growing number of Baby Boomers a chance to use their skills and make a difference in their community. 

A three-part webinar series helps your care center staff team maintain compliance with fire and life safety requirements and avoid the most common violations. Taught by popular and knowledgeable presenter Bob Imholte and designed for engineering, environmental services, maintenance, housekeeping, administrators, nursing and other key staff.  

Ask an adult day program provider their #1 challenge, and chances are you’ll hear about absenteeism and the unexpected loss of revenue it creates. A webinar on April 22 helps address this challenge and offers real tools, strategies and resources to reduce client absences. 

Learn from other providers who have implemented successful absenteeism policies and how you can do the same. Find details and registration here.

The popular Nursing Leadership Symposium begins in less than two weeks and time is running out to register – the deadline is Monday, April 1 (no fooling!) 

Don’t miss the deep-dive discussions at our April ALNET meetings. The agenda topics help the Assisted Living nurse answer these questions and more:  

Did you know LeadingAge Minnesota has nearly two dozen On-Demand Webinars available for your just-in-time staff development needs, with many more in development. 

New competition, the changing health care environment and other market pressures are causing not-for-profit providers to look to partnerships and mergers to grow, thrive and even survive. During last week’s LeadingAge Leadership Summit in Washington DC, Ziegler presented new data showing that scale and size are critical in today’s senior living marketplace and featured a series of examples of where not-for-profit providers are finding success. 

New competition, the changing health care environment and other market pressures are causing not-for-profit providers to look to partnerships and mergers to grow, thrive and even survive. During last week’s LeadingAge Leadership Summit in Washington DC, Ziegler presented new data showing that scale and size are critical in today’s senior living marketplace and featured a series of examples of where not-for-profit providers are finding success. 

Recent national media attention on care center closures in rural areas of the U.S. hit close to home, as six care centers have closed in Minnesota since 2017. The Governor’s proposed cuts to Value-Based Reimbursement could further contribute to this unfortunate trend. Gayle Kvenvold, President & CEO, LeadingAge Minnesota was recently interviewed by Minnesota Public Radio on care center closures and the impact it has on residents, families and the community at large. 

The OnTrack Nursing Assistant Training program offers a compliance guarantee, meaning the OnTrack team makes edits to the curriculum in real time as new requirements and best practices are released. 

Information guides, sample policies and other materials relating to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 101, Life Safety Code® 2012 edition, are available to download at no charge from the LeadingAge Minnesota website (scroll down to Life Safety Code Documentation: Guides and Sample Forms).  

A busy week at the State Capitol is unfolding, with two hearings scheduled this week that are expected to advance major bills related to senior care budget and policy issues. Our Day at the Capitol was a success in setting the stage for solutions that will best meet the needs of the older adults we serve, but your advocacy will be needed in the days and weeks ahead as the Legislature gets down to business in advancing budget proposals and potential historic changes to senior living. 

A free webinar on April 16 will share new resources, tips and success stories in how the AgingServicesJobs.org board can help you address your hiring challenges. Sign up for the webinar.  

Patient Driven Payment Model, or PDPM, is the biggest change to care center reimbursement since RUGs, and it goes into effect in just six months – Oct. 1. Get your organization ready for the conversion through a series of training opportunities from LeadingAge Minnesota:  

President Trump submitted his administration’s fiscal year 2020 spending proposals to Congress last week – and they did not feature good news for aging services providers and the older adults they serve. 

Time is short to register for the 2019 Nursing Leadership Symposium – a comprehensive, five-part training series that prepares professional nurses for the challenging and exciting role of a nurse leader or director in long-term care. 

The LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation is excited to offer over $33,000 in educational scholarships to eligible caregivers and other employees of LeadingAge MN member organizations. To qualify, applicants must: 

Kaiser Health News reported last week that care centers have seen their fines drop by about 31 percent during the Trump administration.