The Senate today passed a comprehensive health and human services reform bill. This legislation addresses critical short-term and long-term staffing challenges facing personal care assistants, direct support professionals, nursing homes, and assisted living and intermediate care facilities. 

As a result of Covid and its after-effects, many of these facilities continue to face stress as staffing shortages have ravaged the industry. There are currently about 23,000 open positions in Minnesota’s long-term care industry. This crisis is compounded by the closures of residential providers, which drive individuals to other facilities already facing staffing shortages. This assistance will help prevent many facilities from closing and ensure individuals have access to these essential services. 

“This funding will help ensure nursing homes, long-term care facilities, and group homes have resources available to provide the staff necessary to care for senior citizens and Minnesotans with disabilities,” Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller (R-Winona) said. “There is an overwhelmingly large gap in the long-term care workforce, and this funding incentivizes retention and recruitment to fill these spaces. These homes serve our most vulnerable citizens, who deserve high-quality care without interruption. Senate Republicans support those working in these facilities so that residents can continue to have access to the care they deserve.”  

This legislation includes $1 billion for rate increases for Minnesota’s long-term care, personal care, and disability waiver rate service industries. This is in addition to the $322 million rescue package to address the staffing crisis facing care facilities, which was introduced earlier this session.

Under the comprehensive health and human services reform bill, Personal Care Assistance (PCA) providers would get approximately 10% in pay raises, which is twice the amount of the governor’s proposal. Intermediate care facilities would also finally have a stable funding formula to provide health or rehabilitative services for people with developmental disabilities.

This bill also appropriates $253 million for rate increases for disability waiver rate service providers so they have the resources to offer competitive pay to their employees. These services help adults with disabilities live with independence and are at great risk of closure without this additional support. 

Additionally, it provides $90 million for rate increases for providers of skilled nurse visits, home health aide visits, home care nursing, and home care therapy services. Further, the bill contains $7.8 million for rate increases for homemaker services providers, which includes cleaning, home management, and assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) services.

Other notable provisions include:

• SF 3195 Nursing Facility Rate Increases: $225 million for rate increases for nursing facilities so they can offer competitive pay and continue to offer seniors the support they need.
• SF 2967 Personal Care Assistant (PCA) Rate Increases: $185 million to increase rates for PCAs, who aid and support persons with disabilities, living independently in the community.
• SF 2999 Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) Rate Increases: $17.9 million for rate increases for NEMT staff, who provide Medical Assistance (MA) members with the safest, most appropriate, and cost-effective mode of transportation to get to and from nonemergency medical service appointments.
  • NEMT also receives $676,000 to fund a fuel rate adjustment.
• SF 2845: Establish the Department of Behavioral Health: Moves the services for those with mental or behavioral health needs to its own agency. This will give these communities greater attention and support from a cabinet-level agency and help increase accountability and transparency to protect taxpayer resources.
• Grants for Residential Facilities at Risk of Closure: $20 million for the establishment of a new grant program for residential facilities. This will help keep these facilities open long enough to either resolve their financial issues or provide residents the opportunity to find a new living situation.

Additionally, the package includes a number of provisions originating from the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, such as interstate compact agreements for nurses, counselors, and speech-language pathologists. 

The Nurse Licensure Compact is a national agreement that allows nurses in participating states to obtain one license that is valid across all member states. Minnesota would join 39 other states and jurisdictions as members of the compact, which has been around for 20 years. The licenses reflect the same high standards and safety of current state licensure but provide a modern system that supports nurses and patients in giving and receiving the best care possible.

A coalition of 60 organizations representing nurses, providers, telehealth supporters, and military family advocates supports Minnesota joining the NLC. Minnesota nurses overwhelmingly support joining the compact. A 2022 survey by the Minnesota Board of Nursing shows nurses favor Minnesota’s joining the compact by a ratio of nearly 10 to 1. The bill also streamlines fingerprinting for licensed individuals, updates requirements for the EMSRB board, allows pharmacists to perform lab tests and administer certain vaccines, and creates a 90-day temporary permit for licensed individuals to practice medicine in Minnesota to ensure new hires are eligible to work as quickly as possible.