Governor Dayton expands list of essential services to include medical assistance payments to providers

Late this afternoon, Governor Dayton announced he will be submitting a supplemental petition Tuesday to expand his proposed list of essential services to include payments to providers who serve seniors and vulnerable adults who rely on medical assistance programs. Dayton also has requested that newly eligible individuals be allowed to enter these programs during a possible government shutdown.

Click here to read the Governor’s announcement.
http://mn.gov/governor/newsroom/pressreleasedetail.jsp?id=102-13681

Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jessen said, after consultation with seniors and other vulnerable Minnesotans served by our programs, we recognize the lack of assured provider payments could indeed lead to life threatening situations.

More details will be available later in the week.

Hundreds of Seniors and Caregivers Rock the State Capitol to Urge Lawmakers to Prioritize Funding for Senior Care

Residents and staff from Orchard Hill, Potter Ridge, and Twin Town Villa attend the rally at the state capitol. Photo: Roman Bloemke

Residents and staff from Welcome Home communities gathered with hundreds of seniors, care providers, and long-term care supporters from throughout Minnesota Rallied at the Minnesota state capitol today to urge state legislators to take in to account the shifting state demographics and prioritize the budgets to meet the needs of seniors – the fastest growing segment of the state’s population.

Residents and staff made the trip for the rally and then meet with their legislators from, Orchard Hill in New Ulm, Potter Ridge in Red Wing,  Twin Town Villa in Breckenridge and staff from Welcome Home Health Care attended today’s rally.

The rally included speakers representing seniors, caregivers and legislative leaders, and featured Alive and Kickin’ – a senior rock and roll choir.

“As our elected officials, state legislators are charged with the mission of balancing the state budget,” said Robert Dahl, board chair of Aging Services of Minnesota.  “Yet even in tough economic times, there are values and expectations that need to remain as priorities, and one of these is making sure older adult services are available for vulnerable and elderly Minnesotans.

There is growing concern over jobs that are especially felt in rural communities across the state, where older adult service providers are often among the largest employers in the area.

House HHS Budget Bill Passes House Floor

Last week, the House passed the omnibus Health and Human Services budget bill (HF 927). Debate lasted over 10 hours, and the final vote on the bill occurred at 2:30 a.m. with a 70-62 vote. The bill includes $1.6 billion in cuts to health and human services, including $4.4 million in cuts to care centers and $27.4 million in cuts to the Elderly Waiver program. 

The bill includes $27.4 million in cuts to the Elderly Waiver program. The majority of the cut comes from a 10 percent reduction to component rates for Customized Living. Previously, the bill did not include language that correlated to that cut, but the savings are being tracked on the spreadsheet and the language was added on the House floor as a “technical amendment.”

Welcome Home visits with Minnesota legislators

Trincy Faas, Linda Beyers (Potter Ridge Assisted Living-Red Wing) and Roman Bloemke (Welcome Home Health Care-Hutchinson)

This past week, we were privileged to join with 300 other senior living providers at the Minnesota state Capitol as we visited with our state representatives.  Visiting from Welcome Home were Linda Beyers, RN and Trincy Faas, Director of Resident Services at Potter Ridge Assisted Living from Red Wing, Minnesota; Loree Besser, Director of Resident Services at Excelsior Place Assisted Living from Baxter, Minnesota; and Roman Bloemke, Director of Operations from Welcome Home Health Care from Hutchinson, Minnesota.

At the heart of our meeting were the proposed changes to the Elderly Waiver program and its impact on our residents, our team members, and to the overall local economy.

U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging Moderates Assisted Living Discussion

On March 16, the U.S. Senate Aging Committee held a roundtable discussion entitled, “Assisted Living at the Dawn of America’s ‘Age Wave’: What Have States Achieved and How is the Federal Role Evolving?” The discussion included a wide range of stakeholder representatives from state and federal agencies, providers, and advocates, who examined various issues relating to assisted living. Officials from several states described the regulations they have in place to protect the interests of assisted living residents, and there was no consensus on any greater federal regulatory role. Much of the discussion focused on the use of Medicaid waivers and a variety of sources of capital to create affordable assisted living.

Deep Cuts Leave Seniors on Shaky Ground

The House Health and Human Services proposal includes a total repeal of rate equalization, but balances the budget by gouging already underfunded nursing homes and home health care programs designed to help seniors remain in their homes.

When the House budget targets for Health and Human Services were announced there was little doubt that the budget would include cuts to seniors. Today Rep. Jim Abeler (R – Anoka) released an HHS budget bill that includes deep cuts to nursing homes and home and community-based services, which are designed to provide care to seniors in their homes at a lower cost.

The Long-Term Care Imperative recognizes the effort that went into putting together the HHS budget and praises Rep. Abeler for repealing rate equalization, which is an important first step in reforming long-term care financing.

However, the effects of reforms like this do not make nursing homes and other care providers immune to the huge cuts to seniors that are included in the budget proposal. “Rather than small, across the board rate cuts for nursing homes, this budget includes $35 million in deep, uneven slices that will certainly result in facility closures at a time when demand for service is only going up,” said Patti Cullen, president and CEO of Care Providers of Minnesota. “The tone coming from the capitol this year has been that nursing homes should be protected. If nursing homes are indeed going to be protected, that is not what has happened in this bill.”

Governor Takes Positive Steps to Protect Seniors

With a $1.2 billion improvement to the state’s budget forecast, Governor Dayton reverses some proposed cuts to older adult services

After proposing an initial “hard times” budget that cut $87 million out of vital programs for Minnesota’s seniors, Governor Dayton is now using an improved forecast to take positive steps to readdress some proposed budget cuts for home health care, nursing homes, and assisted living. In announcing his intention to “significantly reduce” his proposed cuts to older adult services the governor highlighted the importance of services that keep seniors independent.

In total, the Governor restored $1.16 billion of proposed cuts, including $200 million in health and human services cuts.  The following is a summary of the restorations that impact older adult services and disability services:

• Home and community based services rate reduction reduced to 2.0% (HCBS rate reduction was 4.5% in original proposal)
• The proposed reduction for Customized Living component rates is now 2.0% (compared to the 10% cut in the original budget proposal)
• Nursing home rate reduction for low case mix residents (PA1) reduced to 10%  (from 25% reduction in original proposal)
• Nursing home across the board reduction reduced to 1% (was 2% in original proposal)
• Nursing home rate for first 30 days to stay at 20% differential (original proposal reduced differential to 10%)     
• Eliminate proposed reduction to congregate living rates for CADI,  DD and TBI clients (original budget proposed a 10% cut for these rates)    
• Loosen waiver caps for people with disabilities to access waivered services reduction (this proposal deals with limits on CADI, DD and TBI growth)

Governor Dayton Breaks Promise to Minnesota Seniors

In a relatively surprising move, Governor Dayton’s recent budget proposal appears to go against the state’s aging vulnerable adults.  A combined press release from Care Providers of Minnesota and Aging Services of Minnesota sums up what most providers of older adult services in this state feared.

State of the State Address Focuses on Investment – But Not Older Adults

Governor Mark Dayton delivered his first State of the State address today to a packed House chamber. He highlighted five areas in need of investment: jobs; education; transportation; health; and transformation of government.

There was no mention of the biggest investment Minnesota must make: investing to prepare for our aging population. By 2020, there will be more senior Minnesotans than school-age children, and yet Gov. Dayton failed to address this looming challenge.

The governor spoke of the need to increase revenue in order to invest in his five identified areas in order to get Minnesota back on top in national status and put Minnesotans back to work. But again, not addressing the Age Wave will make this investment that much harder.