c. Nursing home change of ownership

Nursing home change of ownership

2022 Regular Session HF4065 Chapter 98, Article 1, Sections 12-17 Health & Human Services omnibus policy bill Effective: August 1, 2022

Short description

The Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Department of Human Services, in response to a few controversial sales of nursing facilities, established an informal task force pre-COVID 19 to discuss amendments to the current change of ownership law (CHOW) to address concerns they had about transparency and accountability. The task force was suspended during COVID-19 and the agencies brought forward policy language they had worked on internally. We were given an opportunity to review their draft language, and, with some guidance from our attorney business partners, we made several significant amendments to their language which were ultimately included in the final bill.

Summary

This bill makes changes to nursing facility licensure statutes under Minnesota Statutes 144A, including defining new terms and modifying existing definitions, changing information that must be included on the application for nursing facility licensure, modifying controlling individual restrictions and an employment prohibition, prohibiting transfers of nursing facility licenses, and authorizing the commissioner to take licensing actions against a nursing facility license or to deny licensure in certain instances. Most of the language is exact replication of the information required on the Medicare 855 form, which must be filled out by skilled nursing facilities who are purchasing/acquiring a facility and intend to obtain Medicare certification/payment.

Implications

Nursing facilities who plan to sell and/or individuals or companies who intend to purchase should pay attention to the changes to the state CHOW law which includes the following: • New definitions for controlling person, owners, ownership interest and managerial officials • Modifications to information that will be included in applications—most aligning with Medicare form 855 but a few additional items that mirror the state’s assisted living licensure law • Prohibits transfers of nursing home licenses; and specifies the conditions under which a new nursing facility license must be obtained due to change of ownership • Additional considerations are added for the commission of health to consider before issuing a provisional license or new license or renewals of license

Bill language

Chapter 98, Article 1, Sections 12-17: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2022/0/Session+Law/Chapter/98/