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The Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition has issued its first recommendations to address the key recommendations outlined in the April 2022 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report – The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality: Honoring Our Commitment to Residents, Families, and Staff. 

In response to a USAToday investigative report published on Dec. 1, 2022, examining staffing levels in nursing homes ("Many nursing homes are poorly staffed. How do they get away with it?"), LeadingAge CEO and President Katie Smith Sloan passionately defended the nation's long-term care and skilled nursing operators. She reiterated, "[f]inger pointing and blame helps no one. It's time for a clear-eyed, fact-based approach to ensure older Americans and families can access the quality nursing home care they deserve."

The Department of Human Services (DHS) will send Provider Revalidation notices to HCBS providers with names beginning with S and T at the end of December. Affected settings provide waiver services in home and community-based settings, including Adult Day Services and Assisted Living (Customized Living).

The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Division (DHHSD) at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has created a series of guides to help service providers understand types of hearing loss and possible accommodations:

Beginning Jan. 2, 2023, there will be an updated Minnesota Nurse Aide Knowledge Test with improved test questions.

LeadingAge Minnesota's exciting new resource, The Workforce Data Portal, gives members a great way to see how they compare to other providers on crucial workforce metrics. Members who have submitted data for the third quarter (July through September) can view reports that provide custom comparisons.

This week, Minnesota's budget forecast for the 2024-2025 biennium showed a $17.6 billion surplus, the largest in Minnesota's history. Most of the forecasted budget is "carryforward," meaning that about $12 billion of the surplus money will only be able to be spent on one-time investments.

Join us on Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 1 p.m. to learn about the NextGeneration Nursing Assistant (NGNA) program and how your organization can connect with NextGen students. This webinar is for employers who want to learn more about the following:

Saint Therese, a LeadingAge Minnesota member, is partnering with Rasmussen University – Bloomington to help train the next generation of nurses.

Totaling $400,000, 24 workforce grants were awarded to LeadingAge Minnesota members across the state by the LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation this week. The grant program funds staff appreciation, OnTrack Nursing Assistant Training program set-up expenses, and initiatives to improve recruitment, retention, and talent pipeline development.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is now accepting applications for the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Employee Scholarship Grant and Loan Forgiveness Program until Jan. 6, 2023.

Members can post their open positions to the AgingServicesJobs.org job board at a reduced rate of only $39 per posting until Dec. 31.

After seven years of successfully supporting the goals of the Long-Term Care Imperative, our joint Face Aging MN campaign has come to a close.

On Nov. 28, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new QSO memo to hospitals (QSO-23-04-Hospitals) on workplace violence and prevention. While there is no enforcement change for nursing homes within the new memo, one violence prevention expert noted, “[nursing homes] would do well to heed new CMS messaging. The ongoing stress of working short-staffed, and even the holidays themselves, can make healthcare facilities an even more vulnerable environment, safety experts said this week.”

The US Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division announced it had recovered more than $28.6 million in back wages and damages for nearly 25,000 workers since it launched a focused initiative in 2021. The effort has led to assessments of almost $1.3 million in civil monetary penalties for employers who willfully violated federal law. The most common violations discovered by investigators were failures to pay overtime or federal minimum wages and misclassifying employees as independent contractors.

An article published on Nov. 15 in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA) discusses the need to reimagine infection control within nursing homes to keep pace with rising acuity and multiple comorbidities in today’s residents to remain effective.

This week, Erin Huppert, Vice President of Advocacy for LeadingAge Minnesota, testified before the Senate Human Services Committee. This informational hearing – no votes or official action could be taken – featured the outgoing chair, Sen. Jim Abeler, and incoming chair, Sen. John Hoffman. The lawmakers spotlighted workforce challenges impacting disability services, long-term care, and non-emergency medical transportation.

The federal government is giving states and providers an ultimatum to make progress on meeting the requirements of the home- and community-based services settings final rule that goes into effect in the spring. Minnesota is only one of 18 States that has already received final approval of the statewide transition plan. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved the Minnesota State Transition plan on Feb. 12, 2019.

Minnesota’s medical cannabis program allows for the use of cannabis for Minnesota residents with qualifying medical conditions. On Nov. 30, the Office of Medical Cannabis announced the addition of two new diagnoses to the list: irritable bowel syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

As Jan. 1 approaches, it appears likely that rate notices will not arrive for most care centers by the start of the new rate year. We expect that the rate increase for most care centers will be significant this year because the cost report being used (year-end Sept. 30, 2021) reflects a drop in occupancy and the considerable increase in costs that happened during the pandemic. Therefore, it is time for providers to consider giving notice to private pay residents about increases on Jan. 1.

The White House released a statement on Nov. 22 announcing a six-week campaign targeted to increase COVID-19 vaccinations nationwide. Within the message, the Biden-Harris administration has a section specifically focused on nursing homes and our existing requirement to educate residents and staff on COVID-19 vaccinations and offer vaccination.

This week, Elder Voice Advocates launched Elder Care IQ. The free tool allows users to search for long-term care providers across Minnesota by name or location. The search results summarize key information about each provider, including the number of maltreatment investigations conducted by regulators.

It's time to update your organization's staff roster in LeadingAge Minnesota's records.

Registration for the 2023 Institute & Expo will open the first week of December. To help you prepare for a smooth registration experience, we have sent notices to each member organization with a staff roster to review and update.

The thirteenth edition of the Really Big Book of Nursing Home Regulations is finally here and ready to go! It is now available for pre-order.

The LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation is excited to announce our Seventh Annual Silent Auction, which will take place as part of the 2023 Institute in February. Thanks to the LeadingAge Minnesota community's generosity, the Silent Auction raises funds to support our dedicated caregivers each year. With your help, we can make this year's auction a huge success!

After advocacy from LeadingAge and others, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has proposed a change in the calculation of Operating Cost Adjustment Factors (OCAFs) to account for high inflation and sharp increases in property insurance costs.

When Congress convenes next January, the United States will return to a divided government with narrow margins of control in both the US House and US Senate. In the House, Republicans will retake the majority over Democrats. In the Senate, the Democrats will maintain a one or two-vote margin over the Republicans, pending a run-off election in Georgia.

The customized living, 24-hour customized living, and overall case mix caps in the Elderly Waiver (EW) program increase effective Jan. 1, 2023, because they are tied to the rise in care center rates. The 24-hour customized living caps will increase by 9.69%, which is the amount of the 2022 care center increase, and the overall EW caps are going up by 9.63% due to minor rate changes in a couple of EW services.

On Wednesday, Nov. 16, Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm announced that she will retire at the end of Governor Tim Walz's first term on Jan. 3, concluding a career of public service to Minnesota in the administrations of three different governors.

In December, LeadingAge Minnesota is launching our Champions Network, a new advocacy-focused membership group with a mission to advance our public policy goals through grassroots engagement. This group is open to all members and will meet virtually once per month.