From Aging Services of Minnesota and Care Providers of Minnesota: Imagine an 85 year old woman who has been progressively receiving more care at home from family and paid caregivers. As her needs have grown in recent years, she has exhausted the limits of…
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Commissioner Jesson Responds to Imperative Letter on Mandatory Consultation
In late August, the Long-Term Care Imperative wrote DHS Commissioner Lucinda Jesson regarding Aging Services of Minnesota’s concerns with the mandatory consultation/LTC Options Counseling law. They raised a number of concerns including personal autonomy, privacy, provisions for emergencies and short stays, surrogate decision-makers, and other…
Mixed Results, Mixed Messages for Seniors: One-Time Relief for Some, Long-Term Challenges for All, More Government Intrusion in Personal Decisions
New mandatory transition counseling inserts government appointed counselors into seniors’ personal housing choices The Legislature and Governor Dayton sent mixed messages in the details of their HHS budget agreement. While the agreement does not cut nursing home rates in this biennium and provides a small…
Just a day away….(MN state shutdown) UPDATED
With a possible state shutdown just a couple of days away, there is an ongoing fear about what will happen with Medicaid payments to providers. Over the past two weeks, there has been a lot of jostling for position by both sides. Through the work…
HHS Budget Conference Committee Proposes Drastic Cuts to Elderly Waiver Program
Wanted to share this from Aging Services of Minnesota: Last week the Health and Human Services Budget Conference Committee completed “phase one” of their budget process, by completing a conference committee bill. The committee does not plan to close up the bill and immediately send…
Hundreds of Seniors and Caregivers Rock the State Capitol to Urge Lawmakers to Prioritize Funding for Senior Care
Residents and staff from Welcome Home communities gathered with hundreds of seniors, care providers, and long-term care supporters from throughout Minnesota Rallied at the Minnesota state capitol today to urge state legislators to take in to account the shifting state demographics and prioritize the budgets to…
Governor Dayton Holds Roundtable Discussion on Older Adult Services
On Tuesday, Governor Mark Dayton held a roundtable discussion regarding the impact of budget proposals on older adult services and the elderly in St. Paul. In a roundtable discussion, Dayton sat with providers of older adult services, a senior who is currently receiving services, a paid caregiver…
Are you ready to rally?
When legislators return to St. Paul next week from their Easter/Passover break, they will have just three weeks left in the regular legislative session. All session long, members from Aging Services of Minnesota, have helped make seniors a priority at the capitol, but they need your help…
House HHS Budget Bill Passes House Floor
Last week, the House passed the omnibus Health and Human Services budget bill (HF 927). Debate lasted over 10 hours, and the final vote on the bill occurred at 2:30 a.m. with a 70-62 vote. The bill includes $1.6 billion in cuts to health and…
Welcome Home visits with Minnesota legislators
This past week, we were privileged to join with 300 other senior living providers at the Minnesota state Capitol as we visited with our state representatives. Visiting from Welcome Home were Linda Beyers, RN and Trincy Faas, Director of Resident Services at Potter Ridge Assisted…