News

We are thrilled to announce that LeadingAge Minnesota has been awarded over $400,000 to launch a statewide campaign to recruit new caregivers.

This week Governor Tim Walz released his budget proposal, a mixed bag for long-term care providers. While it acknowledges and takes steps to address the underfunding of the Elderly Waiver (EW) program, it does nothing meaningful to address the staffing shortages and resulting access problems in the care center sector.

On Jan. 18, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced two initiatives in quality and safety oversight memo 23-05-NH in response to the Biden-Harris administration effort to improve nursing home transparency, safety, and quality. CMS intends to conduct offsite nursing home audits to determine if the nursing home correctly coded diagnoses for residents using antipsychotic medication. CMS will change how citations under dispute are posted.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) in-facility vaccine clinics are available through Feb. 15.

These clinics have supplies of both the primary series vaccine and bivalent boosters. Residents and staff are eligible.

Providers enrolled or seeking enrollment with the State Department of Human Services (DHS) as home and community-based service providers, including waiver-paid customized living or adult day services, must include evidence of two specific trainings.

LeadingAge Minnesota, with our partners in the Long-Term Care Imperative, conducted a statewide public opinion poll to support our legislative agenda in 2023. The poll results affirm and refine the key messages we use and help us target supporters who advocated alongside us throughout the legislative session.

The Veterans' Administration (VA) released new rates for CY 2023 that are effective for care delivered on and after Feb. 1. Nationally, adult day services (ADS) rates increased by 7%, then adjusted by the location's wage index. In about ten locations, VA medical centers (VAMC) asked the VA to freeze CY 2022 rates for CY 2023, and these requests were approved; most of the locations were in Northern California.

According to recent news from the White House, the federal Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division's proposed overtime rule will now be published in May. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was initially slated for April 2022 but then delayed to October that year. The May goal represents a second delay.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tasked its Vaccine and other Related Biologicals Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) to review proposals related to COVID-19 vaccines. Items scheduled for review include changing the primary vaccine doses to the bivalent vaccine and whether the composition and schedule for booster doses should be adjusted.

Would you value being in a supportive cohort of Assisted Living Directors, Licensed Nursing Home Administrators, Nurse Leaders, and Medical Directors from across the state to explore challenging issues? If you're open to a candid discussion of your knowledge, questions, and experiences working with older adults, read on!

LeadingAge, our national partner, is hosting a special edition of the Nursing Home Network on Friday, Jan. 20, at noon CST. They are soliciting feedback on the recently-proposed rules governing Medicare Advantage and Special Needs Plans practices and policies.

Over 20 LeadingAge Minnesota skilled nursing facilities are piloting an employee engagement solution to improve employee retention through data-driven action.

We still seek volunteers to host sessions at the 2023 Institute & Expo.

Select a session or two you plan to attend and volunteer to be the session host. Concurrent session host is a volunteer role that requires no previous experience, no public speaking, no significant time commitments, involves minimal training, and provides an opportunity to make a personal connection with expert faculty.

LeadingAge Minnesota is accepting applications for the 2023 Leadership Academy.

About Leadership Academy

Become the leader you are meant to be. During a year-long program, Leadership Academy fellows learn and apply ideas, tools, principles, and theory to strengthen their leadership and foster an organizational culture to lead in normal and not-so-normal times.

The 2022 Leadership Academy cohort of fellows recently completed their program year and will graduate at the 2023 Institute & Expo. Participants design and lead an Action Learning Project (ALP) as part of their coursework.