Seeking Candidate on Elderly Waiver for Appointment to Long-Term Services and Supports Advisory Council

Elder Voice Advocates has been given the authority to appoint one person to the Long-Term Services and Supports Advisory Council. We are looking for someone receiving Elderly Waiver services who would want to help shape the future of long-term care. The Council will ‘advise and assist the legislature and the governor to reduce cost growth in long-term services and supports, build greater efficiencies into the long-term care services system, and achieve better outcomes for Minnesotans with long-term care needs.’

We will give the appointee support and most of these meeting are hybrid. Please let me (kris@ElderVoiceFamilyAdvocates.org) know if you or someone you know is interested in serving on this Committee or have questions. 

Below is the legislation outlining the duties. 

Subd. 7. Duties. 

(a) By March 15, 2026, the commissioner or designee must present a progress update on the advisory council's work including any initial recommendations to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over human services.

(b) By December 1, 2026, the advisory council must submit to the legislature and the governor recommendations to reduce cost growth in long-term services and supports, to build greater efficiencies into the long-term care services system, and to promote better outcomes for Minnesotans with long-term care needs. When developing the recommendations, the advisory council must consider at least the following:

(1) approaches to reducing human services expenditures, including identifying strategies for addressing the significant cost drivers of state spending on long-term services and supports;

(2) cost-saving reforms, including reforms to:

(i) licensing requirements, service standards, provider qualifications, and provider duties and responsibilities;

(ii) eligibility requirements for accessing long-term care;

(iii) covered services, service authorizations, service limits, and budget limits;

(iv) rate methodologies, rate enhancements and add-ons, rate exceptions, and rate limits; or

(v) any other cost-saving reforms to medical assistance long-term services and supports and other programs serving Minnesotans with long-term care needs;

(3) alternative service models to provide long-term services and supports to people with limited dependencies, low-acuity assessed needs, or natural supports that may include: tailoring available services to meet the needs of the target population; supplementing or subsidizing family caregivers, religious organizations, social clubs, and similar civic and service organizations; exercising the commissioner's authority under Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.092, subdivision 4a; reexamining the provision of services under Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.03, subdivision 9; reexamining the viability of a demonstration project for the target population similar to the projects authorized under Minnesota Statutes, sections 256B.69, subdivision 23, and 256B.77; modifying licensing and regulator requirements to permit family or other natural supports to live with a person with long-term needs in licensed settings, such as an assisted living facility or senior living setting; and tax credits or other tax incentives to encourage intergenerational living arrangements, accessory dwelling units, or other residential arrangements that permit easier access to natural supports;

(4) strategies to increase administrative efficiencies and improve program simplification within publicly funded long-term services and supports programs, including examining the roles and experience of counties and Tribes in delivering services and identifying any conflicting and duplicative roles and responsibilities among the Department of Human Services, counties, Tribes, and other lead agencies; and

(5) opportunities for reducing fraud and improving program integrity in long-term services and supports.

(c) The commissioner must continue to collaborate with the advisory council after the December 1, 2026, recommendations are submitted under paragraph (b) until the advisory council expires under subdivision 11.

(d) The commissioner of human services may contract with a private entity or consultant as necessary to complete the duties under this section. Use of a private entity or consultant for this purpose is exempt from state procurement process requirements under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 16C.

(e) For all strategies included in the recommendations, the advisory council must include:

(1) the estimated fiscal impact of the strategy;

(2) the anticipated impact to people receiving services; and

(3) the level of support among members of the advisory council or ranking of each strategy determined by the advisory council.

Subd. 8. Limitations. 

In developing the recommendations, the advisory council shall take into consideration the impact of its recommendations on:

(1) the existing capacity of state agencies, including staffing needs, technology resources, and existing agency responsibilities; and

(2) the capacity of county and Tribal partners.

Subd. 9. Savings determinations. 

(a) When preparing the forecast for state revenue and expenditures under Minnesota Statutes, section 16A.103, the commissioner of management and budget must assume the following reductions of human services general fund spending for the biennium beginning July 1, 2027, until the end of the legislative session that enacts a budget for the commissioner of human services for the biennium beginning July 1, 2027:

(1) if a bond appropriation for the replacement of the Miller Building on the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center Campus is enacted during a 2025 special session, $177,542,000; or

(2) if a bond appropriation for the replacement of the Miller Building on the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center Campus is not enacted during a 2025 special session, $143,542,000.

(b) Upon enactment of a budget for the commissioner of human services for the biennium beginning July 1, 2027, the legislature must identify enacted provisions that were recommended by the advisory council under subdivision 7.

(c) To the extent the net savings attributable to the provisions identified by the legislature under paragraph (b) for the biennium beginning July 1, 2027, are less than the assumed savings in paragraph (a), the commissioner of human services must implement the contingent spending reductions described in subdivision 10, beginning July 1, 2027, or upon federal approval, whichever is later.

Subd. 10. Contingent spending reductions. 

If upon enactment of a budget for the commissioner of human services for the biennium beginning July 1, 2027, the net savings for the biennium beginning July 1, 2027, attributable to the provisions identified by the legislature under subdivision 9, paragraph (b), are less than the assumed savings in subdivision 9, paragraph (a), beginning July 1, 2027, or upon federal approval, whichever is later, the commissioner of human services must implement the following changes to produce an amount of savings in the biennium beginning July 1, 2027, equal to the difference between savings attributable to the enacted provisions identified under subdivision 9, paragraph (b), and the applicable assumed savings in subdivision 9, paragraph (a):

(1) if a bond appropriation for the replacement of the Miller Building on the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center Campus is enacted during a 2025 special session:

(i) adjust the value of the competitive workforce factors in Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.4914, subdivisions 6 to 9, to produce 49.58 percent of the required savings; and

(ii) impose a county share of medical assistance costs not paid by federal funds for services provided to a person receiving community residential services, family residential services, customized living services, or integrated community supports reimbursed under Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.4914, to produce 50.42 percent of the required savings; or

(2) if a bond appropriation for the replacement of the Miller Building on the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center Campus is not enacted during a 2025 special session:

(i) adjust the value of the competitive workforce factors in Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.4914, subdivisions 6 to 9, to produce 49.48 percent of the required savings; and

(ii) impose a county share of medical assistance costs not paid by federal funds for services provided to a person receiving community residential services, family residential services, customized living services, or integrated community supports reimbursed under Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.4914, to produce 50.52 percent of the required savings.

Subd. 11. Expiration. 

The advisory council expires July 1, 2028.

EFFECTIVE DATE. 

This section is effective July 1, 2025.