All News

To help more learners succeed in CNA training, OnTrack Nursing Assistant now offers translated learner materials in Spanish, Somali, and Hmong — designed to strengthen comprehension and confidence.

The Addressing “Med Not Available” Medication Errors Resource was developed by a work group of the LeadingAge Minnesota Quality Committee to support members in building systematic, effective processes to both prevent and respond to medications not being available to administer to residents.

Yesterday, CMS at the White House announced that they would be withholding $259 million in federal funds for Minnesota due to “unsupported or potentially fraudulent Medicaid claims.” The amount was based on a review of claims from the fourth quarter of 2025.

As we previewed in last week’s Capitol Conversations newsletter, we can expect lawmakers this year to focus on messaging bills, sharper partisan contrasts, and a heavy emphasis on positioning rather than policymaking. In an election year, some bills are intended to send a message to potential voters and constituents, rather than become law.

Recently, we announced that registration was open for our Operations Certificate Program. As we look ahead to our April 1 start date, we want to share more about what participants can expect and why this program comes at the right time for our members.

Join us March 3-5 for the Virtual Institute. Three days of all-new sessions on topics to help you serve your residents. All virtual sessions will be recorded and available for viewing through April 30.

Are you looking for additional funding this year to expand the great work you’re already doing? LeadingAge Minnesota’s Grant Grid is a practical, at-a-glance tool designed to help aging service providers quickly identify funding opportunities that align with their program and strategic goals.

The Food Code Compliance Toolkit was developed to support assisted living facilities in meeting—and exceeding—Minnesota food code requirements.

We’re excited to announce the launch of our new five-part, documentary-style video series designed to both welcome and support New Americans exploring careers in Minnesota’s aging services workforce.

For years, skilled nursing facilities have told their quality story primarily through the MDS. If it wasn’t coded on the assessment, it often didn’t exist in the eyes of CMS quality measures. That framework is now changing—decisively.

Legislators need to hear directly from long-term care providers and Day at the Capitol is your opportunity to make that happen.

On January 28, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued Quality, Safety, and Oversight memo QSO-26-01, revising the criteria used to select nursing homes for the Special Focus Facility (SFF) program. This update carries meaningful implications for all member facilities, and we want to make sure you understand what changed and what steps you should be taking now.

The 2025 Legislature created a new rate exception program under Elderly Waiver (EW) to help hospitals discharge high need residents to assisted living and other EW settings. The new program allows for rates that would otherwise exceed the EW budget caps.

A longtime LeadingAge Minnesota member organization is celebrating a milestone year as its founder receives statewide recognition for leadership in aging services and health care. Dr. Mary Tjosvold, founder and CEO of The Mary T Family of Companies, is being honored by three Minnesota business publications as the organization marks its 50th anniversary in 2026. Congratulations, Mary T and companies!

On February 10, 2026, LeadingAge Minnesota proudly honored the very best of aging services at our annual Stars Among Us Awards Banquet. For more than 35 years, our Stars Among Us Awards have recognized the individuals and organizations whose leadership, compassion, innovation, and dedication elevate the lives of older adults across Minnesota.

On February 11, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit heard oral arguments in the matter of the legal action that LeadingAge Minnesota, along with our partner in the Long-Term Care Imperative (LTCI), filed in late 2024 challenging the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board (NHWSB) and the Holiday Pay Rule.

Beginning April 1, this 10-day interactive program is designed specifically for administrators, site leaders, and operational staff in assisted living and care center communities to build essential knowledge and practical skills to manage operations effectively. 

Benedictine has welcomed Mother of Mercy Senior Living, 230 Church Avenue, Albany, Minn., to its family of senior living communities.

Adult Day Services providers have an important revalidation step to complete in 2026. Last month, high-risk providers, including Adult Day Services, were informed they must complete an off-cycle revalidation by May 31, 2026.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.