Equally important as the policy items that were included in the final Health and Human Service (HHS) Omnibus bill, are policy items that were not included. ARRM counts both wins and setbacks in this category this year.
WINS
ARRM put many resources into fighting against several damaging provisions proposed during the 2019 Legislative Session which would have both harmed providers’ abilities to operate, but more importantly restricted access to the supports and services sought by Minnesotans with disabilities.
Adult Foster Care Bed Closure Proposal
Early on in session, a bill was introduced by Human Services Reform and Finance Committee Chair, Sen. Jim Abeler (R-Anoka). This proposal would automatically decrease adult foster care bed capacity by one for every two beds left vacant for longer than six months.
ARRM had serious concerns about potential un-intended consequences to this proposal and testified in opposition to bill two separate times during the Human Services Reform and Finance Committee. Our testimony highlighted:
- The destabilization of adult foster care this proposal would cause
- The lack of consideration of regional variables or provider specific services
- The lack of cost savings this proposal would bring
Despite our opposition, this proposal did end up in the Senate HHS Omnibus bill.
As soon as the final HHS Conference Committee was announced we were able to activate our members in House Conferee’s districts. Thanks to member outreach, House members spoke against this proposal during Conference Committee and the language was NOT included in the HHS Omnibus Bill.
DD and CADI Waiver Caps
Similarly to the Adult Foster Care Bed Closure proposal, a proposal to cap the number of DD and CADI waivers at June 30, 2019 levels was also included in the Senate HHS Omnibus bill.
Many advocacy groups testified against this proposal during the Human Services Reform and Finance Committee, including ARRM. Thanks to the strong outpouring of opposition, this proposal was also NOT included in the HHS Omnibus Bill.
HCBS Licensing Fee Increase
As we have seen in past years, the Department of Human Services presented, and Governor Walz included in his initial budget, a proposal to increase licensing fees for Home and Community-Based Services providers. This proposal would have raised fees for providers based on revenue with increases ranging from 20 percent all the way up to 300 percent. One of the primary purposes of this new revenue is to support additional inspectors for the Office of the Inspector General.
While ARRM supports a strong and effective investigation process, the association raised strong concerns with generating new revenue from an unfunded mandate on providers already struggling to maintain wages and operations budgets. The association proposed alternative language which would have increased DWRS rates by an amount equal to the fee increases, keeping the proposal cost neutral. This was included in the Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bill, while the House included language similar to the Governor’s proposal. Ultimately, neither were included in the final HHS Omnibus bill.
In the end, thanks to strong advocacy against these fees from our members, and strong advocacy on our behalf from key Senators, the increase to Home and Community-Based Services licensing fees was NOT included in the final HHS Omnibus bill.
SETBACK
ICF Variable Rate and Services During the Day Legislation
One of ARRM’s top legislative priorities this session was legislation that would allow all ICFs to request a variable rate and change the Services During the Day rate from 75 percent of the DT&H rate to 100 percent of the rate.
This legislation got off to an early start, with an early hearing in the Senate. Unfortunately the bill was not able to get a hearing in the House prior to the mandated committee deadlines.
Going into the end of the legislative session, the language was included in the Senate HHS Omnibus bill and there was momentum in the House, mainly driven by members of the minority party, to do something this session to address rates for ICF providers.
Unfortunately, due to a low final conference committee target, the ICF proposal was not included in the HHS Omnibus bill. This is a disappointment for ICF providers and in the coming months the ARRM ICF Taskforce will focus on re-capping what worked and didn’t work this legislative session and begin discussing ARRM’s priorities for the 2020 legislative session.
Thank you to Members
As indicated above, many of the provisions that we were successful in defending against were due to our member’s strong advocacy voice. Thank you to members who were able to contact their legislators in opposition to these harmful proposals!
--Sara Grafstrom, Director of State and Federal Policy