The Minnesota Department of Human Services has published updated 2018 banding information on its website as of Friday, February 9.
In 2018 the banding is 0.5%. Legislation was passed in 2016 to band at 0.5% in 2017, but it needed CMS approval. That approval from CMS did not come early enough to implement in 2017, so DHS banded at 1% in 2017 and moved the 0.5% banding to 2018.
The information can be found on the page "Quick Reference Guide on Banding", towards the bottom of the page.
Posted at 03:42 PM in 2017 Legislative Session, DHS Updates, Finance News & Issues | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Banding, DHS, Rate Setting
The ARRM Financial Resource Committee put together the following chart for members to provide information on the new DWRS component values that went into effect on July 1, 2017 as a result of the automatic inflationary increase.
| 1/1/14 | 7/1/17 | $ Change | % Change | |
| Daytime Staffing | $12.41 | $13.53 | $1.12 | 9.02% |
| Overnight Sleep Staffing | $7.66 | $8.35 | $0.69 | 9.01% |
| Remote Staffing | $12.41 | $13.53 | $1.12 | 9.02% |
| Supervision Percent | 11.00% | 11.00% | ||
| Supervision Wage | $17.43 | $19.15 | $1.72 | 9.87% |
| Custom Deaf or Heard of Hearing | $2.50 | $2.50 | ||
| RN | $30.82 | $31.04 | $0.22 | 0.71% |
| LPN | $18.64 | $20.51 | $1.87 | 10.03% |
| Relief Staffing | 8.71% | 8.71% | ||
| Taxes & Workers Comp | 11.56% | 11.56% | ||
| Other Benefits | 12.04% | 12.04% | ||
| Standard Vehicle | $1,680.00 | $1,742.62 | $62.62 | 3.73% |
| Adapted Vehicle With Lift | $3,000.00 | $3,111.81 | $111.81 | 3.73% |
| Programming & Supports | $2,179.00 | $2,260.21 | $81.21 | 3.73% |
| Standard General & Admin Support | 13.25% | 13.25% | ||
| Program Support | 1.30% | 1.30% | ||
| Utilization and Absence | 3.90% | 3.90% |
If members have questions about these changes and how they impact providers, please contact Barb Turner.
Posted at 09:24 AM in 2017 Legislative Session, Payment Methodology, Rate Setting, Services News & Issues | Permalink
Tags: DWRS, Rate setting
Last week, Senior Director of External Affairs Barb Turner attended a special hearing of the Minnesota Senate Human Services Finance and Policy Reform Committee, chaired by Sen. Jim Abeler (GOP-Anoka). The Committee was reviewing the status and recent reports for several programs supporting people with disabilities, particularly around the topic of financial oversight. Barb was one of only three testifiers, the other two being the Legislative Auditor's office and DHS.
During her testimony, Barb reinforced HCBS providers' concern and attention to the issue of fraud and commitment to assure public funds are being used legally, appropriately and efficiently. She reminded the Committee that ARRM worked cooperatively with DHS on language for required data reporting for HCBS and reviewed all the existing documentation already required under the HCBS waiver and ICF rules.
She also clarified the difference between PCA state plan services and HCBS services, and challenged the recommendation for from the Legislative Auditor to implement practices similar to those in place for PCA, citing both the significant difficulties for PCA reporting and how the differences in HCBS would only exacerbate those issues. Barb urged Committee members to target bad actors as opposed to placing additional industry-wide administrative burdens on providers, the vast majority of whom are doing things the right way while dealing with historic workforce shortages. Finally, she urged the Committee to not overburden providers and use what is already in place and working as they implement requirements for the Cures Act ( Electronic Visit Verification).
On MnCHOICES, Barb requested DHS to look at a formal way for providers to give input as part of the assessment process. This was received well by both committee members and DHS.
Posted at 04:00 PM in 2017 Legislative Session, ARRM News, Barb's Brief | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Minnesota Legislature
Legislation passed during the 2017 Legislative Session required several changes to the DWRS RMS frameworks. The Minnesota Department of Human Services has stated they will be posting the new frameworks on-line by July 1. To view the frameworks when posted, visit the DHS website.
This updated version includes the inflationary adjustments based on BLS and CPI indexes. There will be another adjustment to some of the frameworks effective 1-1-18. These will be component value adjustments based on recommendations that came from the Truven study. The following are the adjustments that will be made in January. Once the new frameworks are available your agency can use these numbers to forecast future changes to rates when those component values change.
Residential Services
Day Services
Unit-based Services with programing
Unit-based Services without programming except Respite
Unit-based services without programming for Respite
For additional information, contact Barb Turner.
Posted at 11:51 AM in 2017 Legislative Session, DHS Updates, Rate Setting | Permalink
The 2017 Special Session officially adjourned early this morning, with the legislature approving and sending a full budget package to Governor Dayton for his signature. Many progressive groups are urging the Governor to veto some or all of the bills, but it is also reported the Governor stepped in during the final moments of the session to help ensure passage of key provisions. Therefore, it is expected he will sign off on the budget.
A comprehensive direct care staff wage increase did not make it into the final HHS budget bill. However, ARRM members will be pleased to see the final bill reflects many of the policy positions for which ARRM was advocating. This includes several issues ARRM was working to keep out of the final budget.
A highlight of the key provisions supported by ARRM in the HHS budget bill include:
Over the next few days ARRM will review the final bill and will send a complete, detailed summary to members, following the Governor’s final approval.
Please watch for our detailed analysis, with more information provided on each of the items listed above, as well as other important components of the final HHS bill. If you have specific questions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].
To receive the full recap of the 2017 Legislative Session in detail, as well as receive training on the impacts of these policy and funding provisions, please register for a 2017 Legislative Road Show training near you. These six training events are an ARRM members-only benefit and begin on June 19. Register for a local event here.
--Sara Grafstrom, Director of Government Relations and Member Advocacy
Posted at 09:10 AM in 2017 Legislative Session | Permalink
The official end to the 2017 Legislative Session is Monday, May 22nd at midnight. After some movement this week on budget negotiations, it seems that communication between the Governor and House and Senate leadership has once again stalled with no final budget compromise in sight.
The House and Senate are both scheduled to meet over the weekend and into Monday and, as history has taught us, things can turn around very quickly at the Capitol.
As negotiations moved forward this last week ARRM was made aware of increasing concerns from legislative leaders and the Governor’s office about the costs of our Disability Waiver Rate System provisions in the coming years. These provisions are essential to help ensure long term stability to providers and must be part of the final budget compromise. ARRM sent out an Action Alert earlier this week about this issue; if you have not had a chance to take action, please do so immediately.
Finally, we reported last week that our policy bill passed the full Senate with unanimous approval. The bill will be heard on the House floor today (Friday) and will then be sent to the Governor for his signature. Following final approval of that bill ARRM will send out a detailed analysis to members on what it contains and what changes you can be looking for.
As things continue to move over the weekend we will continue to keep you updated as necessary. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
--Sara Grafstrom, Director of Government Relations and Member Advocacy
Posted at 01:50 PM in 2017 Legislative Session | Permalink
With a little over one week left of the 2017 legislative session there has not been much of progress between the House, Senate and Governor in coming to a final budget solution.
Early this week budget negotiations came to a halt as the House and Senate acted on their final Conference Committee reports to send to the Governor. The Governor has indicated that he will veto each of the bills when they come to him. There are currently no formal negotiation meetings scheduled between House and Senate Leadership and the Governor until next Monday.
As for the Health and Human Services Omnibus bill, the final bill passed off the House and Senate floor contains the same provisions ARRM informed you about last week with no changes since the Conference Committee last met.
ARRM staff did have an opportunity to meet with Lauren Gilchrist from the Governor’s office this week to further discuss our strong opposition to the Governor’s proposed cap of 350 days for billable services. The meeting was productive with Lauren indicating her desire to follow up with DHS and be in further touch with us. As a reminder, the House and Senate’s final bill does not include the cap on billable days.
This week also saw the final passage on the Senate floor of ARRM’s policy bill. The bill was passed unanimously with a vote of 63-0. The next step will be to have the bill heard on the House floor and then sent to the Governor for his final signature. You can find more information about what is in that policy bill here.
As things continue to move forward in the final week of session ARRM will continue to keep you updated on progress and will look to members for any last minute Action Alerts required. Please continue to watch your emails for anything that may need your immediate response.
You can contact me with any further questions at [email protected].
--Sara Grafstrom, Director of Government Relations and Member Advocacy
Posted at 11:35 AM in 2017 Legislative Session | Permalink | Comments (0)
With just over two weeks left of the 2017 Legislative Session there is still a lot of work that needs to be accomplished.
Last week the House and Senate released joint budget targets. The newly released target for Health and Human Services was a cut of just over $500 million. This cut represents an improvement of the House’s original target of just over $600 million in cuts, and worsening from the Senate’s position of around $330 million in cuts to Health and Human Services.
On Monday, the Health and Human Services Conference Committee released its final report and budget spreadsheet. This now represents the House and Senate’s position on Health and Human Services as they begin negotiations with Governor Dayton.
Below is a list of some of the provisions included, and not included in the Conference Committee amendment, this list does not cover every item that ARRM supports or does not support:
Included:
Not Included:
The next step will be for leaders of the House and Senate to enter into negotiations with the Governor to reach a global agreement. It is important to remember that the Governor’s original budget proposal does include the 350 Day Cap on billable days for residential services as well as offsets seven percent of the scheduled inflationary increase.
Please be sure to watch for Action Alerts in the next couple weeks as legislators continue to move through the negotiation process. It is critical that we maintain a strong presence at the Capitol through the end of session and continue to push legislators and the Governor to prioritize individuals with disabilities.
Please contact me at [email protected] with any questions.
--Sara Grafstrom, Director of Government Relations and Member Advocacy
Posted at 03:54 PM in 2017 Legislative Session | Permalink
The legislature returned from their spring break this week and hit the ground running, immediately appointing members to Conference Committees for their budget omnibus bills; and holding their first meetings.
A Conference Committee is a group of legislators appointed to work out differences between House and Senate versions of legislation. Members appointed to the Health and Human Services Omnibus Bill Conference Committee include:
Within both the House and Senate versions of the HHS Omnibus bills, the biggest issue of concern for ARRM is the proposed cap of 350 on the amount of days a provider can bill for services. This provision is included in the Senate version of the bill, not the House, and would amount to a multi-million dollar cut for providers across the state of Minnesota.
On Thursday, ARRM sent out an Action Alert to the main and alternate contact of each of our member organizations with a sample message to use when contacting their legislators. Please check your email, read and respond to that Action Alert by reaching out to your Legislators and the Governor if you have not already.
Along with the Action Alert, ARRM also sent this letter to all members of the Health and Human Services Conference Committee outlining our concerns on the billing day cap. We express our concern and frustration with lack of an immediate wage increase for Direct Support Professionals, although we did share our gratitude for the overall openness legislators have shown in working on DWRS issues and the beneficial components of their HHS Omnibus bills.
We anticipate the House and Senate to set joint spending targets by the end of next week. Once these targets are set decisions will be made quickly about the final components of the HHS Omnibus bill, please continue to watch for any Action Alerts ARRM may send out to you in the next couple weeks.
The other big news from the Capitol this week is the Preemption bill passing the full Senate on Thursday. This bill, which has already passed the full House, would not allow local governments to adopt, enforce, or administer an ordinance, local resolution or local policy regulating minimum wage, paid or unpaid leave time or particular benefits. The bill comes as both the City of Minneapolis and the City of St. Paul prepare to implement their new paid leave policies on July 1st of this year.
There are differences between the House and Senate bills that passed, so a Conference Committee will have to meet to work those out and the bill will need to go to Governor Dayton for his signature. Governor Dayton has not provided a definitive answer if he will veto or sign the bill.
We will continue to keep you updated on any new developments as we move through the remaining five weeks of session. As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
--Sara Grafstrom, Director of Government Relations and Member Advocacy
Posted at 09:48 AM in 2017 Legislative Session | Permalink
Both the House and Senate released their Health and Human Services Omnibus bills this week. An Omnibus bill is a compilation of all of the bills that have come before the committee this session that Committee Chairs have chosen to move forward with, including many provisions important to ARRM members.
It's important to remember that the budget process is fluid, and the legislature is in the midst of it. What is happening today and included in the omnibus bill may be different tomorrow. With that in mind, below is a brief summary of what is and is not included in both the House and Senate HHS Omnibus bills.
Senate, $335 Million Cut to Health and Human Services:
Included:
Not Included:
House, $600 Million Cut to Health and Human Services:
Included:
Not Included:
The lack of an immediate rate increase for Home and Community-Based Service providers in both budget proposals is a huge disappointment. As stated earlier, this is a very fluid process and ARRM, along with the Best Life Alliance, will continue to work hard with legislators on getting an increase included in the final budget agreement. As the session moves through the next couple weeks and months, please continue to be responsive to any action alerts that ARRM or the Best Life Alliance send out. Your advocacy is making a difference.
Please contact us with any questions on the policies and process discussed.
--Sara Grafstrom, Director of Government Relations and Member Advocacy
Posted at 08:44 AM in 2017 Legislative Session | Permalink | Comments (0)