Minnesota Session Laws - 2000, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 294-H.F.No. 3196 
                  An act relating to human services; allowing the 
                  director of nursing to serve as the administrator in a 
                  nursing home with less than 45 beds; allowing a 
                  nursing facility's employee pension benefit costs to 
                  be treated as PERA contributions; amending Minnesota 
                  Statutes 1999 Supplement, sections 144A.04, 
                  subdivision 5; and 256B.431, subdivision 28.  
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 
        144A.04, subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 5.  [ADMINISTRATORS.] Except as otherwise provided by 
        this subdivision, a nursing home must have a full time licensed 
        nursing home administrator serving the facility.  
        Notwithstanding sections 144A.18 to 144A.27, in any nursing home 
        of less than 32 45 beds, the director of nursing services may 
        also serve as the licensed nursing home administrator without 
        being licensed as a nursing home administrator, provided the 
        director of nursing services has passed the state law and rules 
        examination administered by the board of examiners for nursing 
        home administrators and maintains evidence of completion of 20 
        hours of continuing education each year on topics pertinent to 
        nursing home administration.  Two nursing homes under common 
        ownership or management pursuant to a lease or management 
        contract having a total of 150 beds or less and located within 
        75 miles of each other may share the services of a licensed 
        administrator if the administrator divides the full-time work 
        week between the two facilities in proportion to the number of 
        beds in each facility.  Every nursing home shall have a 
        person-in-charge on the premises at all times in the absence of 
        the licensed administrator.  The name of the person in charge 
        must be posted in a conspicuous place in the facility.  The 
        commissioner of health shall by rule promulgate minimum 
        education and experience requirements for persons-in-charge, and 
        may promulgate rules specifying the times of day during which a 
        licensed administrator must be on the nursing home's premises.  
        In the absence of rules adopted by the commissioner governing 
        the division of an administrator's time between two nursing 
        homes, the administrator shall designate and post the times the 
        administrator will be on site in each home on a regular basis.  
        A nursing home may employ as its administrator the administrator 
        of a hospital licensed pursuant to sections 144.50 to 144.56 if 
        the individual is licensed as a nursing home administrator 
        pursuant to section 144A.20 and the nursing home and hospital 
        have a combined total of 150 beds or less and are located within 
        one mile of each other.  A nonproprietary retirement home having 
        fewer than 15 licensed nursing home beds may share the services 
        of a licensed administrator with a nonproprietary nursing home, 
        having fewer than 150 licensed nursing home beds, that is 
        located within 25 miles of the retirement home.  A nursing home 
        which is located in a facility licensed as a hospital pursuant 
        to sections 144.50 to 144.56, may employ as its administrator 
        the administrator of the hospital if the individual meets 
        minimum education and long term care experience criteria set by 
        rule of the commissioner of health. 
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 
        256B.431, subdivision 28, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 28.  [NURSING FACILITY RATE INCREASES BEGINNING JULY 
        1, 1999, AND JULY 1, 2000.] (a) For the rate years beginning 
        July 1, 1999, and July 1, 2000, the commissioner shall make 
        available to each nursing facility reimbursed under this section 
        or section 256B.434 an adjustment to the total operating payment 
        rate.  For each facility, total operating costs shall be 
        separated into costs that are compensation related and all other 
        costs.  Compensation-related costs include salaries, payroll 
        taxes, and fringe benefits for all employees except management 
        fees, the administrator, and central office staff. 
           (b) For the rate year beginning July 1, 1999, the 
        commissioner shall make available a rate increase for 
        compensation-related costs of 4.843 percent and a rate increase 
        for all other operating costs of 3.446 percent. 
           (c) For the rate year beginning July 1, 2000, the 
        commissioner shall make available a rate increase for 
        compensation-related costs of 3.632 percent and a rate increase 
        for all other operating costs of 2.585 percent. 
           (d) The payment rate adjustment for each nursing facility 
        must be determined under clause (1) or (2): 
           (1) for each nursing facility that reports salaries for 
        registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, aides, orderlies, 
        and attendants separately, the commissioner shall determine the 
        payment rate adjustment using the categories specified in 
        paragraph (a) multiplied by the rate increases specified in 
        paragraph (b) or (c), and then dividing the resulting amount by 
        the nursing facility's actual resident days.  In determining the 
        amount of a payment rate adjustment for a nursing facility 
        reimbursed under section 256B.434, the commissioner shall 
        determine the proportions of the facility's rates that are 
        compensation-related costs and all other operating costs based 
        on the facility's most recent cost report; and 
           (2) for each nursing facility that does not report salaries 
        for registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, aides, 
        orderlies, and attendants separately, the payment rate 
        adjustment shall be computed using the facility's total 
        operating costs, separated into the categories specified in 
        paragraph (a) in proportion to the weighted average of all 
        facilities determined under clause (1), multiplied by the rate 
        increases specified in paragraph (b) or (c), and then dividing 
        the resulting amount by the nursing facility's actual resident 
        days. 
           (e) A nursing facility may apply for the 
        compensation-related payment rate adjustment calculated under 
        this subdivision.  The application must be made to the 
        commissioner and contain a plan by which the nursing facility 
        will distribute the compensation-related portion of the payment 
        rate adjustment to employees of the nursing facility.  For 
        nursing facilities in which the employees are represented by an 
        exclusive bargaining representative, an agreement negotiated and 
        agreed to by the employer and the exclusive bargaining 
        representative constitutes the plan.  The commissioner shall 
        review the plan to ensure that the payment rate adjustment per 
        diem is used as provided in paragraphs (a) to (c).  To be 
        eligible, a facility must submit its plan for the compensation 
        distribution by December 31 each year.  A facility may amend its 
        plan for the second rate year by submitting a revised plan by 
        December 31, 2000.  If a facility's plan for compensation 
        distribution is effective for its employees after July 1 of the 
        year that the funds are available, the payment rate adjustment 
        per diem shall be effective the same date as its plan. 
           (f) A copy of the approved distribution plan must be made 
        available to all employees.  This must be done by giving each 
        employee a copy or by posting it in an area of the nursing 
        facility to which all employees have access.  If an employee 
        does not receive the compensation adjustment described in their 
        facility's approved plan and is unable to resolve the problem 
        with the facility's management or through the employee's union 
        representative, the employee may contact the commissioner at an 
        address or phone number provided by the commissioner and 
        included in the approved plan.  
           (g) If the reimbursement system under section 256B.435 is 
        not implemented until July 1, 2001, the salary adjustment per 
        diem authorized in subdivision 2i, paragraph (c), shall continue 
        until June 30, 2001.  
           (h) For the rate year beginning July 1, 1999, the following 
        nursing facilities shall be allowed a rate increase equal to 67 
        percent of the rate increase that would be allowed if 
        subdivision 26, paragraph (a), was not applied: 
           (1) a nursing facility in Carver county licensed for 33 
        nursing home beds and four boarding care beds; 
           (2) a nursing facility in Faribault county licensed for 159 
        nursing home beds on September 30, 1998; and 
           (3) a nursing facility in Houston county licensed for 68 
        nursing home beds on September 30, 1998. 
           (i) For the rate year beginning July 1, 1999, the following 
        nursing facilities shall be allowed a rate increase equal to 67 
        percent of the rate increase that would be allowed if 
        subdivision 26, paragraphs (a) and (b), were not applied: 
           (1) a nursing facility in Chisago county licensed for 135 
        nursing home beds on September 30, 1998; and 
           (2) a nursing facility in Murray county licensed for 62 
        nursing home beds on September 30, 1998. 
           (j) For the rate year beginning July 1, 1999, a nursing 
        facility in Hennepin county licensed for 134 beds on September 
        30, 1998, shall: 
           (1) have the prior year's allowable care-related per diem 
        increased by $3.93 and the prior year's other operating cost per 
        diem increased by $1.69 before adding the inflation in 
        subdivision 26, paragraph (d), clause (2); and 
           (2) be allowed a rate increase equal to 67 percent of the 
        rate increase that would be allowed if subdivision 26, 
        paragraphs (a) and (b), were not applied. 
           (k) For the rate years beginning on or after July 1, 2000, 
        a nursing home facility in Goodhue county that was licensed for 
        104 beds on February 1, 2000, shall have its employee pension 
        benefit costs reported on its Rule 50 cost report treated as 
        PERA contributions for the purpose of computing its payment 
        rates. 
           Presented to the governor March 24, 2000 
           Signed by the governor March 28, 2000, 2:36 p.m.