Monday House Health:
Gun Violence:HF3668, sponsored by Representative
Robert Bierman (DFL-Apple Valley), would create an Office of Gun Violence
within the Department of Health that would work to research and reduce gun
violence and gun-related deaths, create public health campaigns, and serve as a
resource to the Legislature. The bill was laid over awaiting a fiscal note.
Committee materials:
Senate
Human Services:
SF3617
(Maye-Quade) removes pregnant women from the definition of chemically
dependent
person for the purposes of civil commitments. Senator Maye-Quade argued
that we do not need a separate standard for pregnant women. Rather, the
threshold should be the same for every person. The bill was laid over for
additional work.
Tuesday
House Human Services:
HF3469 (Virnig) The 2024 Legislature
appropriated $2.387 million in FY25 to Direct Care and Treatment for a two-year
county correctional facility support pilot program, focused on medications for
treatment of mental illness. Extends the availability of the appropriation
until June 30, 2027. An HF3469A1
amendment was added that extends the appropriation for the
administration of the Advisory Committee for DCT until June 30, 2028. The
bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the committee’s omnibus bill.
HF3375 (Curran)
Effective January 1, 2027, or upon federal approval, modifies the billing
limits on individualized home supports with training and individualized home
supports with family training, and specifies these limits do not apply to
individuals who meet the residential support services criteria.
Testimony in support of the bill:
- Sara Grafstrom, Senior Director
of State and Federal Policy, ARRM
- Jeremy Wendt, Executive Director,
EGH
- Mark Stoering, Father and
Guardian of an individual with complex medical and behavioral needs
- Deanna Lee Elliott-Stoering,
Mother and Guardian of individual with complex medical and behavioral
needs
The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill.
Tuesday
House State Government
- HF3683 (Nash) would require MMB to
include the budgetary impacts of fraud committed against state programs in
the agency’s biannual budget forecasts. Before each forecast, MMB would
consult the leaders of legislative budget and tax committees regarding
MMB’s assumptions and methods for estimating fraud’s impact on state
revenues and expenditures. Representative Nash moved to have the bill
sent to the House Floor. It failed on a vote of 7-6.
- HF3395 (Niska) would require
budget cuts, a corrective action plan, staff dismissal, and a freeze on
new enrollment when a state agency withholds payment to a program
participant suspected of committing fraud, or a law enforcement agency
refers for prosecution a case of suspected fraud committed against a state
program. The targeted budget cuts and enrollment freeze would continue
until the agency refers all evidence to law enforcement, fires each
employee who bears responsibility for the fraud, and recovers at least a
specified portion of the amount of state money fraudulently obtained by
the perpetrators. The bill failed to advance on a vote of 7-6.
Committee materials:
Tuesday
House Children and Families
- HF3542 (Hudson) requires DHS
and DCYF to disclose investigations into possible overpayment of public
funds within 30 days of a request. The
bill failed to advance on a tied vote of 7-7 – at which point Co-chair
West laid it over.
- HF3819 (West) would modify
licensing inspection requirements for child care providers and establish
program integrity requirements for CCAP. To ensure accurate attendance ,
the bill would require child care providers to make video surveillance of
facility entrances and exits available to state inspectors. As
amended, the bill would modify multiple child care provider
inspection requirements for providers who receive $500,000 or more from
Minnesota's CCAP Program or early learning scholarship. The bill
was laid over due to time constraints.
Tuesday
House Public Safety
- HF3769 (Curran) Department of Corrections Policy Bill: Clarifies multiple levels
of substance abuse care provided by the commissioner; expands access to
mental health unit beds for incarcerated persons; and clarifies mandatory
tuberculosis screening in correctional facilities. The bill passed and was sent to the House Health Committee. Bill
Summary
Hearing
link
Wednesday
Human Services
- HF2295
(Virnig) would provide funding for Dakota County mental health crisis
services, including
mobile crisis response, crisis follow-up and stabilization services, and
embedded social
workers with local public safety agencies. The bill was laid over
for possible inclusion in the committee’s omnibus bill.
- HF3520
(Gillman), an initiative of the Mental Health Providers Association of
Minnesota, codifies existing, longstanding practice and does not create
any new payments or cost allocations. The state has always covered
the room and board costs for MA/PMAP clients at IRTS/Residential Crisis:
first through GRH, then, in 2017, through the BHF. That has continued
through today, but, it was recently identified that an amendment in
Chapter 108 from the 2024 session shifted the numbering of clauses
in Minn. Stat. § 254B.05, subdivision 5, paragraph b which, in turn,
impacts the meaning of Minn. Stat. § 254B.04, subdivision 1a, paragraph c
– arguably removing eligibility for room and board payments to IRTS and
Residential Crisis providers. This language simply clears up any ambiguity
to assure that the current payment practices should continue. The
bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the committee’s omnibus bill.
- Ban on Contracted Case Management:HF3666
(Fischer) would prohibit county agencies from contracting for MA home and
community-based waiver case management services on or after July 1, 2029;
would establish a waiver case management quality working group; and
require DHS to conduct a case management and home and community-based
services rates study.
Representative Dawn Gillman presented the H3666A2
amendment, which would create a Waiver Case Management Advisory Working Group
with a report due back to the Legislature on January 15, 2028.
Representative Fischer stated that he appreciated Representative
Gillman’s input and admitted that his approach may be overly prescriptive. He
asked that the amendment be withdrawn at this time, and the two of them will
continue to work together going forward.
Testimony in support of the measure came from a representative of
A Team Minnesota, who described a case manager as “the most critical link
between the client, the family, and waiver services that people with
intellectual and development disabilities are entitled to.”
Testimony in opposition:
- Katy Molinare, Ramsey County
Social Services, testified on behalf of counties, illustrating significant
negative impacts on both counties and the people we serve, including loss
of client choice, reduction in availability of culturally-specific case
managers, and increased county costs to absorb larger numbers of case
managers, human resources, and recruitment costs during a time of
workforce challenges.
Ms. Molinare also noted that MACSSA recently surveyed counties
and, of the 64 who responded, 47% use contracted case managers in their waiver
programs; and 66,250 people are served by contracted case managers in a variety
of programs - mostly disability and elderly waiver programs.
- HF3666
MACSSA Testimony
- Minnesota Social Services
Association (MSSA) stated that one-third of their providers are contracted
case managers.
Member comments:
- Co-chair Jeff Backer asked how
counties would be able to handle this change; that the Legislature
continues to hear about all of the mandates that it places on our
counties.
Representative Fischer responded that he had heard that Ramsey
County would need 300 new personnel if this were to occur; and that he is not
married to the 2029 sunset. He went on to explain a property where the county
had made thousands of dollars in improvements so the renters could live there
without services. According to Representative Fischer, the contracted case
manager did not effectuate a lease, so the couple was living month to month.
When a new landlord came in, they were evicted.
Representative Backer stated that what works in Ramsey County does
not necessarily work in smaller counties, and this places an additional
financial burden on counties.
- Representative Steve Jacobs spoke
of his experience as a county commissioner, and that this would take away
flexibility for counties.
The bill was laid over for additional work and to await a fiscal
note.
Hearing
link
Wednesday
Senate Health and Human Services: Use
of Social Work Title:SF3682 (Mohamed)
prohibits an individual hired by a county agency on or after July 1, 2027,
and providing social work services from using titles that include social work
or social worker, unless the person holds a baccalaureate degree or graduate
degree in social work; or is licensed under chapter 148E as a social worker.
Support of the measure came from various social workers associations, including
National Social Workers, Minnesota School Social Workers, and Minnesota Nursing
Home Social Workers.
Member comments:
- Senator Mark Koran noted that
county unlicensed social workers are grandfathered in; what title will
they have; how will job classification work?
Senator Mohamed stated that it is up to the county; as an example,
they can be called a caseworker. The proposal does not intend to change a
person’s pay or job classification – that would be up to a bargaining unit.
A representative of Minnesota Social Workers clarified that,
currently, there are exemptions for both title protection and licensing. SF3682
applies only to title protection.
- Senator Jim Abeler stated that
people expect a certain level of expertise with this title. As an example,
people presume county “social workers” are credentialed and experienced
when working in the child protection process.
- Senator Liz Boldon thanked social
workers for their work and stressed the importance to have clarity.
- Senator Paul Utke inquired as to
how this will impact our counties; are they mandated to have a certain
number of social workers on staff? Senator Mohamed stated that counties
are not mandated to have a number of social workers. It is based on their
needs and workload.
The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the committee’s
omnibus bill.
Wednesday
House Health:
- HF3439
(Nadeau) makes changes to state statutes to conform with and implement
provisions of HR1 that apply to MA and go into effect on or before January
1, 2027. The changes affect eligibility policies, administrative
procedures, and how the program is financed. Several of the changes apply
specifically to MA enrollees who are adults without children, or
Affordable Care Act (ACA) expansion enrollees. It modifies eligibility for
MA and expedited disability determinations, requires review of death
master file, and provides contract requirements for managed care plans. HF3439
Bill Summary
Changes as a result of HR1 include:
- Limits on retroactive eligibility
- Six-month eligibility
redeterminations for adults without children
- Administrative review to identify
MA recipients who are deceased
- Changes to noncitizens’
eligibility
- Data sharing between managed care
organizations (MCOs) and the commissioner of human services
Testimony: Paul Varette and Angela Youngerberg testified
on behalf of counties regarding impacts that will result in increased local
costs, people losing coverage, and increased uncompensated care – all while
counties to deal with inadequate technology and already high property tax
levies.
County fiscal challenges:
- Fiscal notes do not reflect the
impact on local taxes.
- Changing from 12-month to 6-month
renewals will double the work, which is estimated to be $6-10 million per
year/ongoing,
- Community engagement is an
ongoing cost; a 2018 MMB study regarding work requirements at that time
was going to cost $160 million/per year.
- While counties do receive $2.2
million for periodic data matching, county costs will double under the new
requirements.
Member comments:
- Representative Tina Liebling
protested against rushing through the process.
- Representative John Huot inquired
how HCMC will be impacted.
- Representative Liz Reyer stated
her concerns about counties. She inquired about federal grant dollars and
the 90% federal match for eligibility systems.
- Representative Anquam Mahamoud
asked whether we will be ready next year; how do we help counties and
clients through the verification process?
- Representative Robert Bierman
expressed the need to minimize the damage to our state, providers, and the
people who depend on MA to survive. When people go to the emergency room,
we all pay for that.
Representative Nadeau closed his comments, acknowledging that this
is a huge short-term problem; that the state does have technology challenges,
but that there are grants available that may be able to help. He noted that,
while this is a work in progress, he reminded the committee that the federal
law goes into effect before the Legislature comes back in 2027. The bill
failed to advance on a vote of 11-11. The bill remains on the table.
Video Link
- HF3763
(Nadeau) makes changes to state statutes to conform with and implement
provisions of HR1 specific to community engagement (CE) requirements (work
requirements) for Medicaid enrollees who are adults without children.
Establishes the federal CE requirements in state statutes and provides
that tax return data and data gathered under the unemployment insurance
program may be shared with DHS for purposes of administering the CE
requirements. HF3763
Bill Summary
Member comments:
- Representative Kristin Bahner
complained of rushing through the process; noting that we don’t have the
technology infrastructure to be able to comply. This is a massive shift of
federal government’s responsibility to the state; there has been little
discussion on how we will be able to implement this.
- Representative Huot asked that a
fiscal note be available before advancing the bill to Judiicary.
The bill failed to advance on a vote of 11-11; it remains on the
table for future discussion.
Bill Introductions of Interest:
- SF3995 (Gruenhagen) Change active
efforts to reasonable efforts in the Minnesota African
American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act
- SF4047
(Utke) Appropriation availability extension for the Direct Care and
Treatment county correctional facility support pilot program
- SF4057
(Utke)/HF4022
(Baker) Express statement requirement of application to the
county-administrated rural medical assistance (CARMA) program for a
medical assistance modification to apply to CARMA program
- SF4089
(Champion)/HF3880
(Lee, F) Vaccine administration education and training requirements to
prevent shoulder injuries related to vaccine administration establishment
and appropriation
- SF4110 (Kupec) Licensing of public
health occupations provisions modification
- SF4112 (Mann) Essential public health
functions contingency account establishment
- SF4120 (Abeler) Waiver reimagine
individualized budget requirements modifications
- HF3819
(West) Licensing inspection requirements for child care providers
modified, program integrity requirements for child care assistance program
established, and report required.
- HF3831 (Altendorf) SNAP income and
asset requirements modified.
- HF3885 (Virnig) MAXIS and Medicaid
Management Information System improvements funding provided, and money
appropriated.
- HF4029
(Robbins) Disclosure of certain investigations and withholding of payments
within 30 days of a request required.
