News

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has pushed out the target dates for moving from emergency background studies back to studies with fingerprints and photographs. 

Due to the vast scale of workforce challenges faced by providers, the Long-Term Care Imperative recently conducted a workforce survey of care center and assisted living providers to measure the scope of the problems and to influence policymakers in support of a much-needed response.

The LeadingAge Minnesota Payment Committee is holding a special meeting next Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 10 a.m. to discuss the status of care center Medicaid rates for 2022 in light of recent information from DHS on their plans to implement cost offsets due to federal aid received by providers.

LeadingAge Minnesota has been working intensively with state agency leaders to illustrate the seriousness and urgency of the workforce crisis facing providers and collaborate on identifying solutions and support to respond.

As we settle into the new assisted living requirements, it is a good time for self-auditing. According to the new law, an assisted living must post the following:

Beginning this week, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is utilizing contractors from an agency called Healthcare Management Solutions (HMS) to conduct nursing home recertification surveys, which are currently backlogged at the Department. 

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) released a notice via GovDelivery indicating a transition pathway for Basic Care Aides (BCA) to become Nursing Assistants through an expedited process before the end of the 1135 Waiver.

This is the very last week you will receive LeadingAge Minnesota’s Advantage newsletter on a Wednesday. Starting next week, you can expect it to be delivered to your inbox every Thursday afternoon.

Last week the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced that it is making $25.5 billion in new funding available for health care providers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of a broad COVID-19 Action Plan released late last week, President Biden announced new vaccine mandates for workers across the country. The plan addresses several topics relevant to aging services, including preparation for the delivery of booster shots if approved and recommended by the FDA and CDC, and efforts to build the supply of rapid COVID tests, but the most prominent aspects of the White House plan relate to mandates.

Thursday, Sept. 2 marked the final working group meeting for Hero Pay. Since July, lawmakers have been meeting to finalize how the $250 million allocated to reward frontline workers will be distributed. In their final meeting, co-chairs Senator Housley and Majority Leader Winkler indicated that progress is being made. However, they have yet to reach a consensus and will continue the conversation beyond their self-imposed deadline of Sept. 7.

This week, the Long-Term Care Imperative is conducting a survey of workforce conditions faced by care center and assisted living members.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has announced a plan for moving from emergency background studies back to studies with fingerprints and photographs.

Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith joined a group of 43 senators urging U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to distribute the funds remaining in the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) and other health care relief programs.

Resilience is our ability to bounce back from the stresses of life. In a new Self Care for Safe Care video, Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinics of Psychology describes the impact of the strains from COVID-19 on all aspects of our lives and how we can build our resilience and practice Self Care for Safe Care.

Staff at all levels are experiencing stress and burnout from their experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, and unfortunately, we know the pandemic is not over. To address this stress and help teams thrive, the LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation is releasing a set of resources to help teams and individual staff process, recover, and renew from the trauma of COVID-19.

Since President Biden announced last week that CMS will develop regulations requiring all nursing homes to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for their staff, LeadingAge Minnesota has been working closely with our national affiliate LeadingAge to seek additional information, better understand the directive, and advocate on behalf of our members.

In a significant escalation of the federal government’s effort to increase vaccination rates, President Biden announced today that he has directed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop regulations requiring all nursing homes to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for their staff, as a condition of receiving federal Medicare and Medicaid funding.

Earlier today, LeadingAge sent all care center members updated Five-Star Analysis reports that reflect data from earlier this year during the height of the pandemic. In addition to showing the status of each of the measures and the overall score, the report also shows areas where care centers are close to gaining or losing points. To look at your care center’s performance over time on any of the measures, members should click on any of the red “trend” boxes on the Five Star report.

One of the Association’s most cherished and time-honored traditions is getting together each fall for LeadingAge Minnesota’s Annual Meeting & Leadership Forum at Madden’s Resort near Brainerd. The LeadingAge Minnesota Board of Directors voted to convert our planned in-person meeting to a virtual event.