ARRM's Daily Dispatch

New Positive Behavior Support Rule to go into effect August 31, 2015

ARRM has received information from DHS that Governor Dayton will sign the new behavior management rule. The expected implementation date is August 31, 2015.

DHS plans to send out information soon on webinars to be held that will provide an overview of the new Positive Behavior Support Rule. These sessions are scheduled to be held on:

• August 11, 2015 from 10:00-12:00
• September 8, 2015 from 10:00-12:00.

ARRM will provide the details and a link to registration once the information is released by DHS.

ARRM is also working on scheduling a training session for our members. Watch for further information in the near future.

Rule language can be found on the Positive Support Rule docket page.

Contact Barb Turner bturner@arrm.org with questions.

--Barb Turner, COO

DHS confirms requirements regarding the new Common Entry Point phone number

ARRM has received a final answer from the DHS Licensing Division regarding the new Common Entry Point phone number. 

Providers must now update their policy on reporting maltreatment and neglect with this new phone number. DHS is considering this change a procedural change, which means that providers must provide a copy of the revised policy to individuals, case managers, and legal representatives. 

DHS realizes that providers did not receive the new CEP phone number early enough to meet the requirement of sending the policy out 30 days prior to implementation. DHS is recommending that providers document this reason in their files.

Contact Barb Turner bturner@arrm.org with questions.

--Barb Turner, COO

Participate in ANCOR’s Overtime Exemption Survey

In response to the newly proposed Department of Labor overtime rule, ANCOR (the American Network of Community Options and Resources - ARRM's national disability association) is immediately gathering data from agencies.  Data will allow them to respond to this rule which would significantly increase the salary threshold for overtime-exempt, executive, administrative and professional workers. 

ANCOR anticipates that the proposed overtime rule will be one of the most important issues they deal with in the next year and greatly encourage your participation in this survey. They will submit comments to the Department of Labor by September 4th.

Specifically, the proposed rule would raise the threshold from the current $23,660 annual salary to a $50,440 annual salary requirement in order to qualify for exemption. For more details view ANCOR's Overtime Fact Sheet.

ANCOR  invites you to complete the survey by August 3rd to help them gather important data on how the rule could impact your agency. ANCOR members and non-members are encouraged to participate.

If you prefer to submit the information in a spreadsheet or another format, you can use the pdf version of the survey instead and email it with any other attachments to Katherine Berland.

Thank you for taking the time to contribute to this important data set.

--Amy Wartick, Communications Director

DHS revises information on Mental Health Certification training

In a previous blog, ARRM shared information from DHS regarding the training requirements for staff working in homes with a  mental health certification.  At that time DHS had indicated that they would not be implementing the revised statute standards because there was not yet an "approved curriculum".

AFC/CRS licensors have now been given new information.  Effective immediately, license holders may implement the following section of Minnesota Statues 245A.03, subd. 6a (c):

“Staff must receive three hours of training in the areas specified in the paragraph (b), clause (1), items (i) and (ii), prior to working alone with residents.  The remaining hours of mandatory training, including a review of the information in paragraph (b), clause (1), item (ii), must be completed within six months of the hire date.  For programs licensed under chapter 245D, training under this section may be incorporated into the 30 ours of staff orientation required under section 245D.09, subdivision 4.”

Licensors have access to a revised form that reflects these changes.

Providers may continue to use their current training materials.  Providers are encouraged to add the training on suicide intervention, identifying warning signs of suicide, and appropriate responses to their training.  These are requirements in the revised statute.  Licensors have been instructed that until there is an official approved curriculum they should not monitor or cite for this specific area.

Providers may continue to follow current practice regarding who does the training, but should be aware that once they curriculum is approved the revised statute regarding this will be enforced.

Although we are not sure what went in to making this change, we do know that at least one ARRM member challenged a correction order on this training issue.

Contact Barb Turner bturner@arrm.org with questions.

--Barb Turner, COO

DHS launches Quality Improvement Tool for July 1 increase

An announcement was sent out via MN-ITs to HCBS and ICF/DD providers regarding the availability of the Quality Improvement Tool required to be submitted for the July 1, 2015 1% rate increase.

The web-based tool is now available for providers to submit their required 2015 new or updated quality improvement plans by December 31, 2015 in order to retain the full 1% rate increase.  DHS may recoup one-half of one percent of Medical Assistance revenues from providers who do no submit the Quality Improvement Tool. 

Providers need to submit plans via the online Quality Improvement Tool (DHS-3893) by December 31, 2015.

If you previously submitted a plan through the online Quality Improvement Tool, you must either submit an update to the ongoing work or a new quality improvement plan. If you choose to submit an update to an existing improvement plan, additional questions will be asked about the project status, changes to the project, and what was learned or achieved. Additional guidance on accessing your previously submitted tool is available in Step 6 of The Quality Improvement Tool Guide (PDF) found at mn.gov/dhs/ltss-rates/. 

The following programs must submit a plan:

• Alternative Care (AC) Program
• Brain Injury (BI) Waiver
• Community Alternative Care (CAC) Waiver
• Community Access for Disability Inclusion (CADI) Waiver
• Day Training and Habilitation (DT&H)
• Developmental Disabilities (DD) Waiver
• Elderly Waiver (EW)
• Essential Community Supports (ECS)
• Intermediate Care Facilities for people with Developmental Disabilities (ICF/DD)
• Moving Home Minnesota (MHM)
• Nursing services and home health services, which include skilled nursing, home health aide, and therapies under the state plan home care program
• Personal care assistance services (PCA) and qualified professional (QP) supervision of personal care assistance services
• Home Care Nursing (HCN)
• Consumer Support Grant (CSG)

For questions that cannot be answered through the links provided in this blog, you may contact me at bturner@arrm.org.

--Barb Turner, COO

ALERT: DHS opens public comment period on DWRS regional variations

DHS has released two proposed options to implement the regional adjustment factor to rates in the Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS).

The rate adjustments - based on cost differences among regions of the state - would begin January 1, 2016 as service authorizations are approved.  Current rates for existing clients would continue to be protected by banding until an individual reaches his or her final rate or when banding ends.

DHS has opened a comment period through July 31st on its two options and other considerations regarding regional cost differences related to provider rates.  One option would cap rate changes resulting from regional variations at three percent up or down; the other would have no caps.  

ARRM’s Payment Methodology Subcommittee reviewed DHS’s options last week and set up a group of seven metro and Greater Minnesota members to prepare ARRM’s response, which will also be discussed at the ARRM Board meeting next week.   Clearly, all the varying cost drivers among regions – and pockets within those regions – cannot be fully addressed based on the limited data used in developing the options.  

Those data, prepared by Truven Health Analytics, only included wages by regions, with some regional subsets.  But no matter how detailed in cost factors and sub-regions, the end result will create some rate “winners” and some “losers.” Indeed, members of the subcommittee agreed, the underlying problem for all providers is inadequate funding for the system as a whole.

Given that the adjustments will be based the existing dollars in the system – budget neutrality – and any adjustment would move dollars among regions, ARRM will seek positions that fairly address concerns of all members across the state.  

Individual ARRM members may also comment on the regional adjustments and the two options.  

The above link provides additional links to the two options, Truven’s analysis (called Minnesota Regional Variation Analysis Final Report Jan. 30, 2015), and where to send your comments.

ARRM will provide more information as the issue develops.

-- Bruce Nelson, CEO

ALERT: ARRM to address DOL overtime/exempt employee rule changes

Last week President Obama and the U.S. Dept. of Labor (DOL) announced a proposed rule that would significantly change the income threshold for employees and other tests governing overtime and the exempt status eligibility for executive, administrative and professional employees. The proposed rule, which could be modified, will not go into effect until after a public comment period.

When adopted these changes will have an impact on providers’ operations and budgets. 

ARRM will address the proposed changes in four ways:

1.    Coordinate with ANCOR, our national disability association, to comment on and influence decisions in Washington,

2.    Look at ways to address this new cost to some providers in our advocacy for funding with the Minnesota legislature,

3.    Update and educate ARRM members on developments and opportunities to comment with the U.S. Dept. of Labor, and

4.    Ask you for impact data through survey questions to effectively advocate at the state and federal levels.

A DOL factsheet summarizes the following key provisions

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) focuses primarily on updating the salary and compensation levels needed for white collar workers to be exempt. Specifically, the Department proposes to:

1.    Set the standard salary level at the 40th percentile of weekly earnings for full-time salaried workers ($921 per week, or $47,892 annually),

2.    Increase the total annual compensation requirement needed to exempt highly compensated employees (HCEs) to the annualized value of the 90th percentile of weekly earnings of full-time salaried workers ($122,148 annually), and

3.    Establish a mechanism for automatically updating the salary and compensation levels going forward to ensure that they will continue to provide a useful and effective test for exemption.

The Department's proposal to set the standard salary level at the 40th percentile of weekly earnings for full-time salaried workers represents the most appropriate line of demarcation between exempt and nonexempt employees. This salary level minimizes the risk that employees legally entitled to overtime will be subject to misclassification based solely on the salaries they receive, without excluding from exemption an unacceptably high number of employees who meet the duties test. As proposed, this would raise the salary threshold from $455 a week (the equivalent of $23,660 a year) to about $970 a week ($50,440 a year) in 2016.

View the complete DOL factsheet

ARRM will keep you updated as the public comment period rolls out.

-- Bruce Nelson, CEO