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Volume 30, Number 5
May 10, 2019
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Oversight is debated at hearing
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TWIN CITIES, MN PERMIT NO. 4766
OVERSIGHT To page 5
Garret Zayic and his daughter met with Sen. Scott Jansen through Partners in Policymaking. As the session winds down, advocates are being heard. See page 7.
Fate of health care provider tax up for debate late in session by Access Press staff The fate of the Health Care Provider Tax is one of the key issues in play as the 2019 Minnesota Legislature enters its final days. The 2 percent tax, which is to sunset at year’s end, provides a $700 million revenue stream each year. Those dollars cover an array of health care costs for people with disabilities, the elderly, children and lowincome Minnesotans. Gov. Tim Walz has made it clear he wants to extend the tax, appearing at capitol rallies in support. House members also want to retain the tax, as do state commissioners on health and human services. But the Republican-controlled Senate is critical of the tax, with some describing it as a “sick tax.” Republican leadership fought to keep the
provider tax extension out of the Senate health and human services bill, while the repeal of its subset is included in the House version. Senate leadership argues that if the programs are important, money can be founded elsewhere. They also say that not having the tax in place already would provide a health care cost reduction. Tax advocates contend that it would be foolish to cut so much out of the state’s roughly $7 billion health and human services spending. More than 100 varied interest groups want the tax to continue. Nonprofits, medical groups, insurance companies, counties and disability rights activists are in the fight. The This is Medicaid coalition has been a high-profile player in the
TAX To page 3
"When the great newspapers don't say much, see what the little independent ones say." Wendell Phillips
NEWS DIGEST
Partners program Page 7 Campers have confidence Page 2 Her life was changed Page 4 OneMinnesota eyed Page 5 Enjoy a movie Page 12
Increasing staff wages is a focus at the state capitol by Access Press staff Efforts to address direct support provider wages continue as the Minnesota Legislature nears the end of the 2019 session. As May began, both the House and Senate had passed health and human services omnibus bills. Each bill passed with a “competitive workforce factor” to address staff wages. The 2019 session is slated to end May 20. By the time Access Press went to press, legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Walz were to have reached agreement on their fiscal targets. Those targets then went back to conference committee chairs. The targets guide what is and isn’t poised for adoption this session. A second deadline is May 13, when conference committees are supposed to have completed their work and submitted reports to their house of origin. With the conference committee process underway, no one is taking anything for granted. What ends up in the final omnibus bill will have a great impact on thousands of Minnesotans who rely on support staff. The House and Senate bills went into conference committee with major differences, and how those will be worked out is an open question. Several advocacy groups have launched email and phone campaigns to keep the competitive workforce factor in the final bill. They are urging Minnesotans with disabilities, their family members and allies to make the case for the measure. Current data shows wages for disability services DSPs fall 17 percent behind wages of jobs with similar training and education
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Should federal court oversight of the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) actions and policies affecting Minnesotans with disabilities end? Or is there a need for continued monitoring, to ensure compliance with a 2011 court settlement and with the state’s Olmstead Plan? A ruling is expected soon, following an April 16 status conference in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, before Judge Donovan Frank and Magistrate Judge Becky Thorson. A full courtroom heard updates on the latest revisions to the Olmstead Plan. That included updates submitted since the last status conference in July 2018, a presentation on quality of life survey results and the initial follow-up quality of life study results. The court had asked for information including public response to the results, continued areas of concern, and next steps in the process. The court also reviewed the latest actions in relation to the Jensen settlement and its related plan of action. It dates from a class action lawsuit that began in 2009 and was settled in late 2011. The lawsuit was prompted by excessive use of restraint of residents of the Minnesota Extended Treatment Options (METO) in Cambridge. Parents of three METO residents sought changes in the facility practices and monetary damages for their children and for other METO residents who had been restrained or secluded there. The Jensen case covered about 300 people who had been secluded or restrained while at METO from July 1, 1997 through May 11, 2011. METO residents were restrained and secluded, and punished for infractions that included touching a pizza box. The case against METO was the catalyst in getting the Olmstead plan work underway in Minnesota. The biannual conferences on Olmstead and the Jensen settlement provide the court with required updates on both matters. The Olmstead office and DHS are able to present their progress, and the plaintiffs are able to bring up areas that haven’t been addressed. While use of seclusion and restraint is always a key issue at the conference, the court sought information on several other issues. One focus has been data used to make policy decisions. Another is what actions are proposed to improve performance before December 2019. Some specific requests of the court include information on wait times for specific types of housing, wait times for movement to community placements after placement criteria have been met, the needs assessment regarding the number of treatment homes, use of person-centered planning and electronic data management used to track information in abuse and neglect investigations. DHS argued that the time for the court to end its oversight has long since passed. The state submitted 1,200 pages of documentation to prove that DHS is
PARTNERS IN POLICYMAKING
by Jane McClure
People with disabilities and their allies rallied at the capitol this session.
requirements. One sample email calls the state’s healthcare workforce situation “bleak,” due to very high rates of vacancies, turnover and overtime. The competitive workforce factor is an important step in bridging that wage gap and the workforce crisis. The House includes $34 million to increase pay for workers who care for people living with disabilities, along with $37 million for the union contract to support personal care attendants or PCAs. The Senate includes $40 million for workers and nothing for the union.
Some analyses of the bills indicate that the Senate bill would actually reduce spending on PCAs by limiting the number of people and conditions that would qualify for PCA help. It increases the PCA eligibility threshold to one critical activity of daily living or a behavior that “increases vulnerability” and requires intervention at least four times per week. That is seen as making it more difficult to quality for services. Disability advocates have spent hours poring over the bills, and many groups
WAGE To page 3