Blogs

Legislative Update: Deadline Week!

By Sara Grafstrom posted 5 days ago
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Last Monday, the Human Services Omnibus Policy bill went in front of the House Ways and Means Committee where an amendment was offered to remove ARRM’s Out of Home Respite provisions from the bill. The language was removed not because of opposition to the bill, but because of a cost that has been attached to the provision. We are now working to get the language included in the Human Services Omnibus spending bill. Also on Monday, the House Human Services Policy Committee held its last hearing of the session. The hearing was focused on the out-of-state placement of children. ARRM submitted this letter , outlining some of the challenges that 245D providers ...
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Legislative Update: Senate passes Human Services Omnibus Policy Bill

By Sara Grafstrom posted 12 days ago
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The legislature returned from Easter break on Wednesday and continued both committee and floor work. For ARRM members, we saw the Human Services Omnibus bill pass off the Senate floor and the Governor’s Human Services budget bill introduced. Below, please find a quick summary of what happened last week and some things to look for in the coming week. Human Services Policy Omnibus Bill The Senate passed the Human Services Omnibus Policy bill off the Senate floor on Thursday. All ARRM’s provisions that were included in the bill when it left committee, remain intact as it was passed off the Senate floor with a 58-9 vote. In the House, the bill is scheduled ...
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Legislative Update: The MN Legislature goes on break, ARRM responds to Minneapolis rideshare news

By Sara Grafstrom posted 18 days ago
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Last week was a short week for the MN Legislature, but ARRM staff were tracking issues from the local level up to the Federal Government. Below is a quick recap on what happened and what you can expect this coming week. State Legislature The Minnesota Legislature went on break beginning at 5:00 pm Wednesday, returning at noon on Tuesday, April 2 nd . Before break began, ARRM did have one bill heard in the Senate Human Services Committee. Our proposal to create grants for providers supporting people moving from a congregate living setting to their own home was heard and laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus spending bill. I provided an overview ...
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Legislative Update: Human Services Omnibus Policy Bills Released and Spending Targets Set

By Sara Grafstrom posted 26 days ago
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Last week marked the first and second committee deadlines in the legislature. This means that policy-only bills must be passed out of all appropriate policy committees to be considered further in the session. This includes policy omnibus bills, which were released and passed out of committee this past week. Bills that have a fiscal impact have until the third committee deadline to move out of committee, which is set for April 19 th . For ARRM, we had a final hearing for our city licensing bill in the Senate State and Local Government and testified in support of the Human Services omnibus policy bills which contained some of our priorities. This last week ...
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Legislative Update: Last week's hearing, national news, and Day at the Capitol 2024!

By Jonathan Tvedt posted 03-18-2024
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Another week, another hearing for one of ARRM’s bills! As we move closer to the first and second committee deadline next Friday, March 22 nd ARRM staff continue to work with Legislative staff behind the scenes to ensure that our priorities are still in consideration. This coming week we have an additional hearing in the Senate for our City Licensing bill and the Human Service Omnibus Policy bills will be released. We will have a full rundown of everything included in those bills next week. Keep reading for a recap of our hearing, news coming out of the White House on disability services, and our biggest event of the year! Recap of House Hearing: ...
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Legislative Update: Two weeks until deadlines, ARRM's bills continue to move forward

By Sara Grafstrom posted 03-10-2024
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It was another busy week of committee action for ARRM’s legislative priorities. As we move closer to the first and second committee deadlines (important legislative benchmarks that play a roll in whether bills will receive further consideration), ARRM staff continue to work with legislative staff to ensure that our priorities are making their way through the relevant committees. Below, find a brief recap of what happened last week, and what to expect in this coming week. Recap of House Hearings: · ARRM’s language to modify provider requirements in 245D was heard in the Human Service Policy Committee on Monday. Along with ARRM staff, ARRM ...
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Legislative Update: A full rundown of all our bill hearings last week!

By Sara Grafstrom posted 03-03-2024
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This last week was a busy one for the ARRM team. In total, we presented at a total of ten bill hearings, both in the Senate and the House, and continue to make positive movement on our legislative priorities. In addition to the hearings, the other big news of the week was the February forecast being released. Here’s a quick summary of all those things, and what to expect this week. February Forecast The February forecast was released on Thursday, February 29 th . This is the forecast that the Governor and legislature will use to set spending targets for any supplemental spending they pass this session. The overall surplus grew from $2.4 billion to $3.7 ...
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Legislative Update: ARRM's Bills Start to Get Hearings

By Sara Grafstrom posted 02-25-2024
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Week two of the legislative session saw ARRM’s priorities start to get acted upon. On Wednesday, February 21, the Senate Human Service Committee heard testimony on Senate File 3736, ARRM’s legislation that would require a uniform set of standards across the state for approval or denial of assistive technology and the inclusion of technology costs in the direct care compensation thresholds. ARRM staff Sara Grafstrom and Alaina Gallagher presented the bill and answered questions from committee members. In the end, the bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the Human Service Omnibus bill. The Department has indicated possible adjustments they would like ...
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2024 Legislative Session Kicks Off

By Sara Grafstrom posted 02-15-2024
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The 2024 legislative session began last week and ARRM staff have wasted no time making sure that ARRM’s priorities get officially introduced. This session is a "short session" and with the state budget set for the biennium, much of the focus will be on capital infrastructure/bonding projects and passing policy-only legislation. ARRM is entering this legislative session with a robust agenda, you can go to the public policy page on the ARRM website to review our full list of priorities and download our two separate one-page documents that outline the nine different bills we will be bringing forward. This week, all nine Senate bills and three of our nine ...
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DWRS Rate Increases Approved, DHS Preparing Guidance

By Ken Bence posted 01-26-2024
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ARRM’s members have undoubtedly been frustrated with the apparent delay in obtaining federal approval, and the lack of information regarding the rate increases in the Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS) that were expected to go into effect on January 1. We know this is true because we heard from many of you! We at ARRM were frustrated too, and have been trying to get reliable information to pass along since before the end of last year. Many of you were pleased to hear from DHS staff on the monthly Q&A call on January 17 that CMS approval had finally been received. While that was great news, many questions remained as far as what providers and lead agencies ...
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New Business Related Laws Taking Effect

By Sara Grafstrom posted 01-02-2024
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Along with the many changes that were passed in the Human Service related bills, there were many changes passed during the 2023 legislative session that impact businesses and employers. ARRM has compiled a list of some of the changes members should be aware of that either went into effect January 1, 2024, or earlier. For a full list of new laws passed by the legislature click here , and please reach out with any questions. · Noncompete Agreements Banned: The new law makes noncompete agreements void and unenforceable. · Carbon-free 2040: A new standard has been set for Minnesota to be carbon-free by 2040. This new ...
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DHS Updates DWRS Component Values Table for 2024

By Ken Bence posted 10-17-2023
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You may have seen the bulletin from DHS, dated October 17, that announced the release of the DWRS component values that go into effect on January 1, 2024. DHS will include the new component values in the December updates of the MnCHOICES Support Plan and revised MnCHOICES applications. These systems will start using the new values on a rolling basis as service authorizations change or renew. As background, the 2023 Legislature required DHS to update some cost factors in the Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS), effective January 1, 2024 or upon federal approval*. See Minn. Stat. §256B.4914, subd. 5 . The component value changes for services include: ...
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2024 DWRS Rate Increases Explained and Tools Provided

By Ken Bence posted 07-07-2023
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As you are hopefully aware at this point, the 2023 legislative session outcomes included some pretty significant changes to the Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS) component values and the schedule of updates, which will result in rate increases beginning in 2024. That's good news! Following is a digest of those changes. Read to the end to learn about new tools available to help you see the impacts for your organization. The wage component values in the DWRS rate frameworks are set in statute, and are based on Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes, which are published annually by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). While specific SOC ...
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CMS Proposed Access Rule: Public Comments Due July 3

By Ken Bence posted 06-20-2023
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As you may be aware, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking early last month that broadly seeks to improve access to care and better address health equity issues in the Medicaid program. Entitled Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services , many provisions of the proposed rule apply to home and community-based services. ANCOR, our national association, has been taking the lead on evaluating the proposed rule, communicating its content to member organizations, gathering feedback, and developing resources to facilitate the submission of comments during the public comment period, which closes on July 3. ANCOR’s ...
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2023 Legislative Wins

By Sue Schettle posted 05-22-2023
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ARRM Members, Going into the 2023 legislative session, ARRM had an ambitious legislative agenda. Six separate pieces of legislation were introduced, dealing with a variety of issues from sustainable rate adjustments for waiver and ICF/DD services to licensing changes, service delivery modifications, and recruitment and retention grants; all with the common goal to make a positive impact on the workforce crisis we are facing within disability services. I am happy to share that while not all our priorities made it across the finish line this session, many important funding and policy provisions were included in the final Human Service Conference Committee ...
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Final Day of the 2023 Legislative Session

By Sara Grafstrom posted 05-22-2023
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Today marks the last day of the 2023 Legislative Session and while there are still a few outstanding items for the legislature to act on today. The Human Service bill, which contains most of the provisions that impact ARRM members, passed off the House and Senate floor last Friday. In the coming days, ARRM staff will be working on compiling a complete analysis of the provisions contained within the bill and the impact they will have on people with disabilities and service providers. In the meantime, last Friday, ARRM CEO Sue Schettle sent out a quick rundown of some major successes to ARRM member organizational leadership that I wanted to re-share with everyone. ...
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Final Human Service Conference Committee Budget Spreadsheet Available

By Sara Grafstrom posted 05-14-2023
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Late Sunday evening the final spreadsheet for the Human Service Conference Committee report was made available; bill language has not been made available, so we do not have the details of the proposals that were included. However, below is a high-level analysis of ARRM Legislative Agenda priorities that made it into the final bill and the level of funding each proposal received: Modifications to the DWRS Inflation Adjustments: $87 million in the first biennium/ $225 million in the second biennium ICF/DD Rate Modifications: $10 million in the first biennium/ $15 million in the second biennium Workforce Incentive Grants for Long Term Services and Supports- ...
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CMS Approves the Latest Amendments to the DD Waiver

By Ken Bence posted 05-09-2023
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You may recall that DHS issued proposed amendments to the Developmental Disabilities (DD) waiver in January, with a 30-day public comment period that closed on February 16. ARRM submitted written comments with input from many of you, as did several provider organizations. DHS issued a bulletin on May 9 announcing that CMS approved the waiver amendment package on April 19, along with a summary list of changes and clarifications . While we didn’t support all the changes DHS proposed and CMS approved, and we proposed additional changes that were not included, the list shows that there were numerous adjustments made to the final language based on feedback they ...
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Legislative Update: Two weeks left of session, Human Service Conference Committee begins meeting

By Sara Grafstrom posted 05-07-2023
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The Human Service Conference Committee began meeting last week with the first hearing on Tuesday featuring a walk through of the House, Senate and Governor’s proposals and public testimony taken during the Wednesday hearing. Along with ARRM’s letter submitted to conferees last week, I also provided public testimony and spoke to the need to raise reimbursement rates for waiver and ICF/DD services. The committee is waiting on updated numbers from the Department of Human Services to some of the proposals in their bill and is not planning to meet again until those numbers are provided. As a reminder, the last day of session is just two weeks away, on Monday, ...
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Human Service Conference Committee begins meeting this week

By Sara Grafstrom posted 05-01-2023
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Last week the House passed the Human Service Omnibus bill off the House floor. With the passage of this bill, a Conference Committee has now been formed to work out the differences between the House and Senate proposal and develop a final Human Service budget omnibus bill. Conference Committee members include: Chair Senator John Hoffman Senator Omar Fateh Senator Jim Abeler Chair Representative Mohamed Noor Representative Peter Fischer Representative Dave Baker The first Conference Committee hearing will take place Tuesday, May 2 nd and will be an informational walk through of each proposal. We are anticipating the next hearing, scheduled ...
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