News

In recognition of the physical and emotional toll that separation from family and other loved ones has taken on residents, CMS has issued

Election season is upon us! Election Day is Tuesday, November 3^rd, but starting this Friday (9/18) absentee ballots will be available for the

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has posted revisions to regulations that implemented the paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave provisions

CMS held a call on nursing home testing yesterday evening featuring

The Executive Committee of the LeadingAge Minnesota Board of Directors has approved a significant change in our annual Institute & Expo for 2021.

As all nursing homes are now aware, CMS last week issued an Interim Final Rule requiring facilities to test staff and residents for COVID-19.

Nursing homes will be required to test staff for COVID-19, and offer testing to residents, under an Interim Final Rule released by CMS August 25. All laboratories conducting COVID-19 testing and reporting patient-specific results

On August 17, 2020 CMS released a memo, QSO-20-35-ALL, describing expansion of survey activity and new guidance around enforcement.

LeadingAge Minnesota recently learned that Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) is proposing to return to fully-compliant, fingerprint-based background studies process sometime in the near future.

This week the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) released long-awaited recommendations on modifying visitation policies in aging services settings. The recommendations are effective August 29, 2020 and apply both to nursing homes and housing with services/assisted living settings.
 

Leading Change. Changing Lives. That is more than our promise. It is our purpose. During our recent LeadingAge Minnesota Board of Directors meeting, we re-committed to positive and lasting social change through not only our words but our actions.
 

A recent survey of LeadingAge Minnesota members illustrates the negative impact of the nearly four-month mandated closure of Adult Day Services on participants and family caregivers. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) this week issued a proposed rule that announces and seeks public comments on proposed policy changes for Medicare Part B payments, on or after January 1, 2021.  Click here for fact sheet describing the proposed rule.  While policy analysts are still combing through the 1300-page proposal, several issues stand out as important for aging services providers. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final version of the annual Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Payment Rule that updates rates for the second year of the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) which starts on Oct. 1. The Oct. 1 rates include an inflation update of 2.2% based on a formula in existing law.  

We have gathered additional details about the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ initiative to supply rapid point-of-care antigen testing instruments and tests to nursing homes throughout the country to aid in identification and mitigation of COVID-19. 

There have been reports of students who have completed Nursing Assistant training but have not yet been able to complete testing, running into roadblocks to being hired. Some of these roadblocks include applications designed to ask students for their nursing assistant registry number before being allowed to move forward in the application process, recruiters expecting applicants to be on the Nursing Assistant Registry and students being asked multiple times for copies of their certification. 

The 2020 LeadingAge Minnesota Nominating Committee, chaired by Mark Anderson, CEO of Knute Nelson in Alexandria, has announced that nominations are open for board members and officers of the LeadingAge Minnesota Board of Directors and for individuals eligible to elected as Lifetime Honorary Members.   

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) last week announced plans to supply rapid, point-of-care testing instruments and tests to nursing homes throughout the country to aid in the fight against COVID-19.  

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) will soon post information about reimbursement of COVID-19 testing costs for employees to the nursing facility portal.  The new information includes a memo outlining the reimbursement policy and an updated “Form A” to submit for reimbursement of costs related to the Covid-19 state emergency, which now includes employee testing costs. 

The Blue Ribbon Commission created by the Minnesota Legislature in 2019 to identify recommendations that would save $100 million in state health and human services expenditures over the coming biennium is soliciting public and stakeholder input on its draft final report.