News

2025 was a remarkable year of growth for LeadingAge Minnesota, and 2026 is already shaping up to continue that momentum.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Due to IT issues at DHS, the annual nursing home cost report for the report year ending September 30, 2025, is not yet available on the Nursing Facility Provider Portal. Given that the due date of February 1 is coming up, DHS is implementing an alternative process for collecting the data this year.

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.

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. 

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.

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.