SF 3673

2nd Engrossment - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to human services; promoting community-based care for older adults
through the establishment of a community consortium demonstration project;
establishing a community consortium account in the general fund to distribute
pooled resources; requiring an evaluation of the demonstration project.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. new text begin OLDER ADULT SERVICES COMMUNITY CONSORTIUMS.
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new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Establishment. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of human services, in
cooperation with the commissioners of health and housing finance, shall develop and
implement, beginning July 1, 2009, a three-year demonstration project for older adult
services community consortiums. An older adult services community consortium may
consist of health care and social service providers, county agencies, health plan companies,
and other community stakeholders within a demonstration site that have established a
process for joint decision making. Demonstration sites may include a portion of a county,
an entire county, or multiple counties.
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new text begin (b) Each community consortium seeking to participate as a demonstration site must
submit an application to the commissioner. The application must include:
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new text begin (1) a description of the entities participating in the consortium, the scope of
collaboration, and the process to be used for joint-decision making;
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new text begin (2) the methods by which the consortium plans to achieve the goals specified in
subdivision 2;
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new text begin (3) a description of the proposed demonstration site; and
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new text begin (4) other information the commissioner determines to be necessary to evaluate
proposals.
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new text begin (c) The commissioner of human services shall establish a process to review and
consider applicants. The commissioner shall designate up to three community consortiums
as demonstration projects.
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new text begin (d) Each community consortium selected to participate shall establish a local group
to assist in planning, designing, implementing, and evaluating the coordinated service
delivery system within the demonstration site. Planning for each consortium shall build
upon current planning processes developed by county gaps analyses and Elder Care
Development Partnerships under Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.0917.
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new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Goals. new text end

new text begin The community consortium demonstration projects are intended to
accelerate the development of community based services to fill in gaps identified within
communities by using a pool of funds and providing flexibility in the use and distribution
of these funds within each demonstration site. These projects must be designed to:
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new text begin (1) ensure consumer access to a continuum of older adult services;
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new text begin (2) create an adequate supply of affordable home-based alternatives to care for
persons currently using nursing facilities or likely to need nursing facility services in
the future;
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new text begin (3) establish and achieve measurable performance targets for care delivered
throughout the continuum of care; and
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new text begin (4) support the management of chronic and complex conditions through greater
coordination of all services needed by older adults.
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new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Priority for other grants. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of health shall give priority
to community consortiums selected under subdivision 1 when awarding technology-related
grants, if the consortiums are using technology as a part of their proposal. To the extent
that the commissioner of the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency funds projects to
create or preserve affordable housing options for older adults, the commissioner shall
give priority to financially feasible projects proposed or supported by community
consortiums selected under subdivision 1. The commissioner of transportation shall
give priority to community consortiums selected under subdivision 1 when distributing
transportation-related funds to create transportation options for older adults.
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new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Federal approval. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of human services may request any
federal approvals or waivers necessary to implement the community consortiums under
the medical assistance program and include medical assistance funding as specified in
subdivision 6 in the community consortium account.
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new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Quality measures. new text end

new text begin (a) Community consortiums participating in the
demonstration project shall report information to the commissioner of human services
necessary to evaluate the demonstration project, in the form and manner specified by
the commissioner. The information collected by the commissioner must include both
process and outcome measures, including, but not limited to, measures related to enrollee
satisfaction, service delivery, service coordination, service access, use of technology,
individual outcomes, and costs.
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new text begin (b) Participating consortiums shall identify state policies that limit the extent to
which project goals can be achieved and recommend necessary changes to the appropriate
state agencies.
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new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Community consortium financing. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of health shall
reserve ten percent of any funds appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 2011,
for the nursing home moratorium exception process under Minnesota Statutes, section
144A.073, for distribution to qualifying projects that are part of a community consortium.
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new text begin (b) Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.434, subdivision 4, paragraph
(d), the nursing facility performance incentive payments shall be reduced by ten percent
for the biennium ending June 30, 2011. This shall be a onetime reduction.
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new text begin (c) Base level funding for community service grants under Minnesota Statutes,
section 256B.0917, subdivision 13, and community services development grants under
Minnesota Statutes, section 256.9754, shall be reduced by ten percent for the biennium
ending June 30, 2011. These shall be onetime reductions.
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new text begin (d) An amount equal to the state share of the reductions in paragraphs (b) and (c) is
appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of human services for distribution
to qualifying projects that are part of a community consortium under this section, to be
available until expended.
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new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Evaluation and report. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of human services, in
cooperation with the commissioners of health and housing finance, shall evaluate the
demonstration project, and report preliminary findings and recommendations to the
legislature by November 15, 2011, on whether the demonstration project should be
continued and whether the number of demonstration project sites increased. The final
report of findings and recommendations shall be delivered to the legislature by January
15, 2013. The preliminary and final evaluation and report must include:
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new text begin (1) a comparison of the performance of demonstration sites relative to nonconsortium
communities on the quality measures specified in subdivision 5;
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new text begin (2) an assessment of the extent to which the demonstration project can be
successfully expanded to other parts of the state; and
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new text begin (3) legislative changes necessary to improve the effectiveness of the demonstration
project and to expand the projects to other parts of the state.
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new text begin The commissioner of human services may withhold up to $50,000 of the funding
provided to each participating community consortium under this section to fund the
evaluation and report.
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