Moratorium Exceptions Process Available Funding Increased

Posted on April 7, 2021 by Jeff Bostic

Due to a cancellation of a previously approved moratorium exception project, there is now $821,088 in state funding available in the current moratorium exceptions rounds, up from the $702,144 announced in January. The Long-Term Care Imperative is pushing for additional funding in the current legislature to conduct another round later this year and is glad to see the Senate supporting additional funding, which is much needed to upgrade physical plants to make infection control efforts more effective.

The application materials for the current round of the nursing facility moratorium exceptions process are available on the MDH website. Care centers interested in applying will need to complete all of the required application materials and return them to MDH by June 25. Following a presentation to a review committee later this year, MDH will have a list of approved projects by Sept. 3.

Although it may not sound like much, the amount of state funding available in this round will allow for investments in Minnesota care centers. The available state funding, which is applied only to the first-year state cost of approved projects, may cover more than $100 million in much-needed construction on Minnesota care centers.  

Under the nursing facility property rate system, a moratorium exception approval allows the provider to have their entire property rate calculated based on a rental value formula adopted by the 2019 Legislature. That formula is more straightforward and tends to produce a better payback than the old system, so each moratorium exceptions round available will likely be very competitive as the round in 2019 was.