1.1 	A resolution
1.2 	memorializing the President and Congress to provide reimbursement under Medicaid 
1.3 	for services provided at the Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center.
1.4 	WHEREAS, the Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center provides inpatient and 
1.5 	transitional services to patients from the Twin Cities metropolitan area who have severe mental 
1.6 	illness and co-occurring conditions; and 
1.7 	WHEREAS, the 200-bed facility, constructed in the era when treatment of mental illness 
1.8 	was typically provided in large institutions, is too large to be in keeping with current standards, 
1.9 	particularly those set forth in the Olmstead Plan, which call for person-centered treatment in 
1.10 	small and community settings; and 
1.11 	WHEREAS, even at its current size, the facility has long waiting lists for admission and 
1.12 	suffers frequent overcrowding; and 
1.13 	WHEREAS, the legislative report entitled "Plan for Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment 
1.14 	Center" (February 18, 2014) calls for a number of strategies to improve treatment at the facility 
1.15 	and to bring the use of AMRTC into line with current standards; and 
1.16 	WHEREAS, under current federal requirements, the facility's size means that most of its 
1.17 	patients are not eligible for federal reimbursement under Medicaid. The Centers for Medicare and 
1.18 	Medicaid Services do not allow medical assistance reimbursements for care that people ages 22 to 
1.19 	64 receive in psychiatric facilities of more than 16 beds. This exclusion forces the state to fund 
1.20 	the facility, at a cost of approximately $35 million in fiscal year 2014; and 
1.21 	WHEREAS, as part of the Reform 2020 proposal to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
1.22 	in 2012, the Department of Human Services requested a waiver of the rules that prevent medical 
2.1 	assistance reimbursement to these patients. The waiver would allow the facility to serve as a 
2.2 	statewide resource to provide diagnosis and treatment for people with the most complex mental 
2.3 	illnesses and co-occurring conditions; and 
2.4 	WHEREAS, in a conference call held on February 26, 2013, the Centers for Medicare and 
2.5 	Medicaid Services informed the department that they would not approve the waiver request; and 
2.6 	WHEREAS, increased Medicaid reimbursements are crucial to the improvement of care 
2.7 	for those with serious mental illness and co-occurring conditions throughout the state's largest 
2.8 	metropolitan area while the facility reorganizes to provide treatment in smaller settings; NOW, 
2.9 	THEREFORE, 
2.10 	BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the President 
2.11 	and Congress to act to require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to approve the 
2.12 	needed waivers of federal rules and thus to permit medical assistance reimbursement for services 
2.13 	provided to the great majority of patients at Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center.
2.14 	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Minnesota's Congressional delegation is urged to 
2.15 	support and seek the necessary waivers through the administration or through the legislative 
2.16 	process, or both.
2.17 	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is 
2.18 	directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United 
2.19 	States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk 
2.20 	of the United States House of Representatives, the chair of the Senate Committee on Health, 
2.21 	Education, Labor and Pensions, the chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, and 
2.22 	Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in Congress.