St. Paul – The Minnesota Senate today approved Governor Walz’s and the DFL Majority’s Human Services budget agreement. This legislation provides meaningful support to ensure Minnesotans have access to in-home care, but it only provides trivial resources to help stabilize the state’s struggling long-term care facilities. The original bill received strong bipartisan support off the Senate floor. Following significant changes in conference committee, far fewer Senators voted for the final version of this bill.
Instead of providing permanent funding to address the severe workforce shortage issues for nursing homes, this legislation contains a potentially unworkable $100 million loan program and one-time staff retention grants. Minnesota nursing homes have been closing due to significant pressures driven by decisions made at the state level. Without adequate staffing, nursing homes have been forced to turn away seniors in need.
“Minnesota’s nursing homes continue to be overwhelmed by a dire lack of staff and are on the brink of collapse,” Senator Jim Abeler (R-Anoka), the lead Republican of the Senate Human Services Committee said. “With a $17.5 billion surplus, we have more than enough money to stem the tide of our closing nursing homes. With more than 50,000 Minnesotans expected to turn 80 years old in the next five years, we must guarantee our seniors receive the kind of care they deserve and need in their golden years. I am disheartened to see this year’s Human Services budget not provide more aggressive support for nursing homes across the state.”
Equally troubling is the lack of support for non-emergency medical transportation, like trips to dialysis, or other life-saving care. The Senate went in with a strong position on the issue, but the conference committee report reduced the funding by over 50%. This means that necessary medical rides for dialysis, blood transfusions and other key needs will no longer be available for thousands of frail elderly and persons with disabilities.
“Medicaid clients rely on non-emergency transportation to get their critical and life-saving treatments. This failure to cover the costs for non-emergency transportation providers will virtually collapse these essential services. These staff have not seen an increase in years, and the small increase found in this legislation will not bridge this gap. This is especially harmful in greater Minnesota where public transportation is lacking,” Senator Abeler added.
While the final Human Services budget agreement does not address the most pressing needs of Minnesota seniors, it does provide strong support for Minnesotans who are outside of nursing homes and receive in-home care. This includes support for:
- 25% increase in home care nursing
- Personal Care Assistance driving reimbursement for residents
- Support for group homes
- Funding for assisted living
“While the Human Services budget contains great improvements for many services that will keep Minnesotans in their homes, I wish we could have provided the same support to Minnesota seniors who receive their care in nursing homes.” Senator Abeler concluded.