Blogs

Important Information on the Medicaid Enrollment "Unwinding"

By Ken Bence posted 2 days ago
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As you are undoubtedly aware, early in the pandemic, the federal government declared a public health emergency (PHE) and passed laws that provided increased Medicaid funding to states, in return for which they were prohibited from disenrolling people off their Medicaid rolls. Late last year, the federal government separated the continuous Medicaid enrollment from the PHE and established a schedule of "unwinding," or resuming eligibility redeterminations beginning April 1. This means that there is a possibility that people currently on Medicaid waivers could lose their Medicaid eligibility on their next anniversary. What can residential providers do? You ...
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Committee Targets Released, Second Deadline this Friday

By Sara Grafstrom posted 3 days ago
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As we move into second committee deadline, this last week and a half has seen a lot of action on ARRM’s legislative priorities and overall budget work at the Capitol. On Wednesday, three of ARRM’s legislative priorities were heard in the Senate Human Service Committee. The following bills were heard and laid over for possible inclusion in the Human Service Omnibus bill: SF 1015 (Best Life Alliance DWRS Rate Legislation) SF 1009 (Integrated Community Supports service changes) SF 654 (IHST Service Changes) In the House, ARRM’s Workforce Recruitment and Retention grant language received its third hearing, being heard in the Workforce Development Policy ...
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Legislature hits first committee deadline, ARRM’s bills continue to move forward

By Sara Grafstrom posted 14 days ago
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Friday, March 10 th marked the first committee deadline. In order for a bill to "meet first deadline", it must be acted favorably on in the house of origin. The second deadline, which is set for Friday, March 24th is for committees to act favorably on bills, or companions of bills, that met the first deadline in the other house; and the third deadline, scheduled for Tuesday, April 4 th , is for committees to act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills. All of ARRM’s bills have met the first deadline and we are working on finalizing hearings for the bills that still need to be heard in order to meet the second deadline. Here is a brief update ...
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Updated Budget Forecast shows Minnesota Remains Financially Strong

By Sara Grafstrom posted 19 days ago
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Last Monday, the updated state budget forecast was released. The forecast showed that Minnesota remains in a solid financial situation with the overall budget surplus not changing significantly, compared to the previously released forecast at the beginning of December. The budget surplus is now at $17.5 billion, down slightly from the November forecast, however, it is notable that a recent change in law now requires inflation to be factored into the forecast. With the release of the updated forecast, both House and Senate leadership will now turn to the setting of committee budget targets. ARRM recently put out an action alert directed at Speaker Hortman and ...
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Short week at the Capitol, ARRM's bill continue to receive hearings

By Sara Grafstrom posted 28 days ago
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It was a short week at the Capitol, with the legislature closing Wednesday through Friday in preparation for the impending snowstorm. Despite only two working days, ARRM had four bills heard from our legislative agenda and supported an amendment added to the Paid Family Leave bill in the Senate. Paid Family Leave (HF 2/SF 2) On Monday, the Senate Human Services Committee heard testimony from Medicaid reimbursed provider organizations including ARRM, MOHR, The Long Term Care Imperative and SEIU members. Ken Bence, ARRM’s Director of Research, Analysis and Policy as well as Phil Griffin provided testimony on behalf of ARRM. At the end of the hearing, the ...
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ARRM's bills begin receiving hearings in the Senate, Busy week Ahead!

By Sara Grafstrom posted 02-19-2023
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With only three weeks left until the first committee deadline, ARRM’s legislative priorities continue to receive hearings in both the House and Senate. Last week, two of ARRM’s bills got their first hearing in the Senate Human Services Committee. Our proposals that would increase rates for ICFs (SF 756) as well as our bill that would change licensing requirements for AOST (SF 758) were heard and laid over for possible inclusion in the Senate Human Service Omnibus bill. On Thursday, the House Human Service Finance Committee held a hearing on HF 2, the Paid Family Leave proposal. ARRM’s contract lobbyist, Phil Griffin, testified on behalf of ARRM and stressed ...
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ARRM Meets on Paid Family Leave, ARRM Priorities Continue to Advance

By Sara Grafstrom posted 02-13-2023
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Last week, three of ARRM’s legislative priorities received a hearing in the House Human Service Policy committee. Bills heard include: · AOST Licensing Requirement Changes (HF 339) · IHST Service Changes (HF 716) · Workforce Recruitment and Retention Grants (HF 813) Each bill had good discussion and general support from committee members. All three bill were re-referred to the Human Services Finance Committee where they are awaiting a second hearing. You can view the full hearing here . ARRM also submitted this letter last week to leadership in the House and Senate in response to the Paid Family Leave legislation ...
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Legislative Update: ARRM's Bills Start to Get Hearings

By Sara Grafstrom posted 02-04-2023
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Legislative Update: ARRM’s Bills get Introduced and Hearings This last week saw the majority of ARRM’s legislative priorities receive their official bill numbers, this is great news and is a critical step in ensuring that our agenda keeps progressing through the legislative session. Below is the complete list of bill numbers: Best Life Alliance DWRS Legislation: HF 999/SF 1015 ICF/DD Rate Legislation: HF 568/ SF 756 Alternative Overnight Supervision with Technology (AOST) Licensing Changes: HF 339/SF 758 Integrated Community Supports (ICS) Changes: HF XXX/SF 1009 Own Home/IHST Changes: HF 716/SF 654 Workforce Grant and Public Awareness Campaign ...
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Legislative Update: ARRM's priorities get bill numbers and details of Governor's budget released

By Sara Grafstrom posted 01-27-2023
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This last week saw many of ARRM’s legislative priorities get official bill numbers in both the House and Senate. For those agenda items that are still without bill numbers, we anticipate having them formally introduced in the coming week. Below, please find a list of our priorities with corresponding bill numbers as well as hearings that have been scheduled. ARRM Legislative Agenda Bill Numbers and Scheduled Hearings Best Life Alliance: Pending Introduction in the House and Senate Hearing scheduled in House Human Service Finance: Thursday, February 2nd Workforce Grants: HF 813/ SF XXX Hearing scheduled in House Human Service Policy: Monday, ...
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Legislative Update: Governor begins to release budget recommendations

By Sara Grafstrom posted 01-23-2023
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ARRM’s legislative priorities are beginning to be formally introduced in the legislature. This last week, two of our bills were introduced and given bill numbers in the House: Alternative Overnight Supervision with Technology: HF 339 ICF Rate Legislation: HF 568 We anticipate more bills being formally introduced this coming week in both the House and Senate and will be adding bill numbers to our formal legislative agenda soon. Last Thursday, Governor Walz released information about his spending priorities in disability services. While we are waiting on more specific details to be released this coming week, the high-level summary included the following: ...
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Legislative Update: Week 2 and Legislators are hearing from YOU!

By Sara Grafstrom posted 01-16-2023
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Legislators heard from you all in a big way this last week. ARRM launched an Action Alert on Wednesday morning and within three days over 1,100 messages had been sent! If you have not had a chance to send your legislators a message, you can access the alert here . Please continue to share with others within your network and let them know how important it is that legislators are hearing from constituents about the need to act early to support disability waiver services. In addition to hearing from you all through the alert, Senators on the Human Services Finance and Policy committee received compelling testimony from advocates across the caring professions, ...
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Week one of the legislative session sees the Caregiver Stabilization Act of 2023 introduced

By Sara Grafstrom posted 01-08-2023
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Session officially kicked off this last week with legislators being sworn in on Tuesday, January 3 rd . As anticipated, Rep. Melissa Hortman was re-elected as Speaker of the House and Sen. Kari Dziedzic was elected Majority Leader of the Senate. On Wednesday, Senator Hoffman, Chair of the Human Services Committee and Rep. Noor, Chair of the Human Services Finance Committee introduced SF 7/HF 32 , the “Caregiver Stabilization Act of 2023.” This legislation contains many provisions that were carried in the Senate Health and Human Service Omnibus bill during the 2022 legislative session, the hope is that this legislation can pass early in session. Of note for ...
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Legislative Update: Two Weeks to go until Session!

By Sara Grafstrom posted 12-16-2022
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With the 2023 Legislative Session just a couple weeks from kicking off, I wanted to take some time to update you on where things stand at the Capitol, developments since the election and helpful resources to be using in the final push before session starts. House and Senate Leadership The Senate DFL majority elected Sen. Kari Dziedzic (60) as the new Majority Leader; Sen. Bobby Jo Champion (59) will serve as President of the Senate and Sen. Mark Johnson (01) was elected Minority Leader. In the House, Rep. Melissa Hortman (34B) was re-elected Speaker of the House; Rep. Jamie Long (61B) was elected Majority Leader and Rep. Lisa Demuth (13A) will serve as ...
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2022 Election Results are In!

By Sara Grafstrom posted 11-14-2022
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The election last Tuesday had surprising outcomes, not just on the national level, but here in Minnesota as well. While most anticipated the Senate Republicans to maintain their majority, and the House to potentially flip to Republican control, we saw the opposite happen and now have all three branches of government controlled by the Democrats. Governor Walz has been officially re-elected to his second four-year term and all other constitutional offices will remain under Democratic control. The House DFL grew their majority by a couple seats and the Senate majority flipped from Republican to the Democrat controlled, with the Democrats now holding a one seat ...
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Reminder: Regional Variance Factor to be Updated in DWRS

By Ken Bence posted 06-29-2022
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As I posted in this blog on May 24 , the Regional Variance Factor (RVF) in the Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS) will be updated as of July 1, and will have an impact on rates calculated in the DWRS. The DHS bulletin on this change included a list of the new factors. As I described previously, the RVF is based in statute and is updated every 6 years. Factors are calculated in each of the 4 service buckets for each of the 12 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in Minnesota, and are a reflection of how the average median DWRS wages for each MSA compare to the statewide median. When the regional median is less than the statewide median, the factor will ...
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End of Session Legislative Update: Another Special Session? Seriously?

By Sara Grafstrom posted 05-25-2022
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The legislature failed to pass a Health and Human Service appropriations bill before the constitutionally mandated midnight deadline this last Sunday, May 22 nd . This marked a disappointing end to the 2022 legislative session that saw much of the $9 billion surplus left un-allocated. Along with not passing the Health and Human Service appropriations bill, the legislature adjourned without passing many other omnibus funding bills, including, E-12 and Public Policy to name a couple, and while they came to an agreement on a $4 billion tax relief package, that bill was also not passed before deadline. As of this writing, the prospect of a special session remains ...
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Regional Variance Factor to be Updated in DWRS

By Ken Bence posted 05-24-2022
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There have been a lot of moving parts to the Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS) this year. As you may recall, changes made to the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver rate setting statute ( 256B.4914 ) in 2019 established a schedule for updating the wage values and inflationary adjustments going forward, beginning on July 1, 2022. But the 2021 Legislature passed a bill that moved the first updates up to January 1, 2022. (Don’t forget - an encumbrance report showing that at least 80% of this new revenue is due by December 31, 2022. See more information here .) Then, in early February of this year, DHS announced it was using its emergency powers to ...
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April 2022 Legislative Update: Time is running out and compromise remains elusive

By Sara Grafstrom posted 04-11-2022
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Friday, April 8 th marked the third committee deadline for the legislature. This is the point where all bills must be through the committee process and both the House and Senate turn their attention to floor action. The third committee deadline is also the point where both the House and Senate release their omnibus policy and spending bills and set their positions going into the end of the legislative session. Below, please find an overview of the omnibus bills as they currently stand. Senate Human Services Reform and Finance Omnibus Policy Bill In late March, the Senate Human Services Reform and Finance committee passed out of committee their omnibus ...
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2020 Legislative Session Update: Six Weeks In

By Sara Grafstrom posted 03-09-2022
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It is hard to believe we are only in week 6 of the legislative session, as things have been moving at a rapid pace. Below is an update of where ARRM’s Legislative priorities sit and other pieces of legislation critical to disability services ARRM’s Legislative Agenda: Immediate Workforce Relief (SF 2968/ HF 3268) $1500 Retention Bonuses for staff that remain in their position until December 31, 2022 Monthly grants to help with the cost of childcare for DSPs HCBS scholarship fund for disability waiver services 5% rate increase for ICFs Removal of the separate license for Alternative Overnight Supervision ARRM’s Immediate Workforce ...
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Update to the Random Number Extrapolation Rule Saga

By Ken Bence posted 01-07-2022
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Some of you may remember this tale of DHS acting to change the rules around random number extrapolation in recovering overpayments to providers. Believe it or not, it began over a year ago and I previously wrote posts to this blog here , here and here . While it may not be a terribly exciting topic, it matters when a provider finds themself on the receiving end of a monetary recovery action. The subject here is Minnesota Rule 9505.2220 on Monetary Recovery of overpayment through Random Sample Extrapolation. The rule has existed since 1981 and empowers the Surveillance and Integrity Review Section (SIRS) of DHS to recover overpaid funds due to fraud, abuse ...
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