MINNESOTA
Minnesota has proposed a funding appropriations bill in the house and senate that could provide substantial benefit to the assisted living community.
The bill(s) would dedicate funds to support:
- COVID-19 testing and vaccination services to long-term care facilities, including assisted living and housing with services homes
- A nurse triage line to report COVID-19 test results to residents and staff in long-term care, and answer questions from the facilities
- Technical assistance to long-term care facilities to assess the infrastructure and capacity to control infection risks
- An infection control strike team to provide support and advice to facilities experiencing an outbreak
Even more importantly, the bill would appropriate $2 million to establish a temporary staffing pool to help assisted living facilities that are experiencing staffing shortages. This money would be used by the commissioner of human services to contract with third-party staffing agencies to establish a pool of temporary workers who could be called in at no cost if a facility is unable to find temporary staff through the use of its own resources.
The Senate version, S.F. 4410, is sponsored by Senator Jim Abeler, who is heavily involved in health care policy in the state. Senator Abeler can be contacted at: [email protected] or 651-296-3733.
The House version is sponsored by Rep. Tina Liebling, [email protected], (651) 296-0573.
To track this and other bills and regulations, go to RALNA’s real-time tracking boards:
2022 Legislative Tracking Board
2022 Regulatory Tracking Board
