More than 130,000 people use Medicaid-funded long-term services and supports (LTSS) in Minnesota. The Department of Human Services uses tools like data collection and surveys to review whether each service is working for the people who access it.
Services can do many different things, such as:
Help someone find and succeed in a job
Support family, friends and neighbors caregiving
Provide stable housing in a care facility
Set up regular care visits for someone living at home
The commissioner of human services established an Acute Care Transitions Advisory Council in October 2023 to advise and assist the commissioner in establishing and implementing a statewide vision and systemic approach to acute care transitions in Minnesota. The report:
Assesses the strengths and needs of state services and systems.
Explains what the research says about effective transition planning.
Recommends ways to improve transitions for Minnesotans of all ages from diverse backgrounds.
Provides feedback on the written report that will be written based on the work of the committee.
This report captures findings from a study of telehealth utilization among people enrolled in Minnesota Health Care Programs (MHCP) to inform policy and practice pertaining to telehealth for MHCP enrolles in Minnesota.
This legislative report (PDF) discusses data collection, analysis and recommendations about the service rates calculated by the DWRS.
In January 2014, DHS implemented the DWRS, which transitioned the state from a variable, county-negotiated rate methodology to a standard, statewide methodology for most disability waiver services. The DWRS establishes rates through a framework of cost components. The DWRS was considered fully implemented on Dec. 31, 2020, and all rates in the system are now calculated using the DWRS methodology.
Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.0915, subdivision 17 directed the Department of Human Services (DHS) to make recommendations for changes to the rate methodology defined in subdivisions 11-16 based on the results of an evaluation. The evaluation activities and findings indicate that a number of changes to the statute would improve the rate setting methodology (PDF). Fully implementing the report’s recommendations will help ensure that the service rates are “consistent with efficiency, economy, and quality of care and are sufficient to enlist enough providers”, as required by the federal government, and available for public program participants into the future.
The HCBS Evaluation of the Assessment for Racial and Ethnic Disparities (HEARD) project is dedicated to improving access to Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) programs and services for individuals from diverse racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds.
The multi-phased project amplifies the voices of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and American Indian community members to understand and monitor disparities in accessing Medical Assistance (MA) HCBS. The goals are to identify and promote successful practices, track changes over time, and make recommendations for meaningful policy and operational changes.
This legislative report (PDF) delivers the findings of a survey about direct support professionals (DSPs) and HCBS providers in 2021. The findings indicate multiple challenges in the DSP labor market, which consequently affects access to HCBS.
This report has the findings from a study conducted to examine funding options and to provide a structure to transform the integration of existing and recommended public-private programs which provide access to care and LTSS financing for older adults in Minnesota. The findings contained were developed based on engagement with stakeholders and consultant panelists who have expertise across the LTSS and financing systems. Discussions were informed with support from actuarial analysis and research.
This website has a lot of information about Medicaid, which is called Medical Assistance in Minnesota. It has quantitative, demographic data about those enrolled in Medicaid, as well as qualitative information about why Medicaid is an important part of our health care infrastructure. It's Medicaid, not Medicare, that is the primary source of coverage for people who need long-term care in Minnesota.
This website from the Minnesota Department of Health has data about provider counts, demographics, geographic distribution, career plans, and practice characteristics for over 20 different licensed health care professions. This information is useful as Minnesota works to ensure it has a healthy workforce to provide the services and supports its residents need.
This study has the results of an in-depth study on long-term care workers who work in nursing home and assisted living facilities. It also has important findings to inform best practices on recruitment, retention, burnout and turnover among this critical workforce.
This is the most recent in a series of annual reports from the evaluation of Minnesota’s Reform 2020 Section 1115 Demonstration Waiver that pertains to Minnesota's Alternative Care (AC) Program. Alternative Care provides home and community-based services (HCBS) to people ages 65 and older who meet nursing facility level of care criteria, and who meet financial income and asset eligibility limits.
This report (PDF) serves as the annual data report and summarizes the process DHS used to develop a set of measurable benchmarks for lead agencies (counties, tribal nations, and managed-care organizations) responsible for conducting long-term care consultation (LTCC) services. The report provides an update on the status of the benchmarks project and provides annual data on each performance measure. It also includes conclusions about next steps and plans for ongoing reporting of data.
This report contains findings from an evaluation of Value-Based Reimbursement (VBR). This is a payment system that calculates daily payment rates for nursing facilities based on costs reported by facilities, and uses a quality score to set care-related spending limits. The evaluation examined the impact of VBR on facility spending and quality, for the average facility in Minnesota and by different facility characteristics of interest.
The Office of Ombudsman for Long-Term Care (OOLTC) advocates for Minnesota adults needing or receiving long-term care services and supports. The mission is to empower, educate, and advocate for Minnesotans receiving long-term care services to ensure their rights are upheld. OOLTC is a service of the Minnesota Board on Aging, and all the services provided by the program are free and confidential. It publishes an annual report of program activities and actions completed on behalf of residents. This report is submitted annually to the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and fulfills Older Americans Act requirements.
This legislative report presents the Palliative Care Advisory Council's summary of work efforts during 2023, and outline the recommendations and work planned for 2024. Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illness or health condition. This type of care is focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family. Palliative care is provided by a specially trained team of doctors, nurses and other specialists who work together with a patient’s other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness or health condition, and it can be provided along with curative treatment.
The All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) program is a Medicare and Medicaid program that helps eligible people receive their healthcare needs in the community rather than in a nursing home or other care facility. Minnesota legislation passed in 2023 directed the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to complete an actuarial and implementation analysis. The actuarial analysis is a projection of what the payment rate structure for the PACE program may look like when the model is implemented. The implementation analysis is a review that determines what resources, processes, and structures are needed to implement a PACE program in Minnesota. When it is complete, the analysis will be included.
This final report to the Minnesota Legislature pulls together findings from a wide range of qualitative and quantitative studies. As a result of the findings, nine recommendations to support continued broad availability and use of telehealth as a tool to deliver health care services, helping Minnesotans to access timely, effective, and affordable health care, are also included.
The first of the two reports, this document includes a review of the research literature on supported decision making, focusing on processes and evidence for effectiveness. The report also introduces the five organizations funded under the supported decision making grant program and describes their grantfunded activities, intended outcomes, and early findings related to implementation of the program.
The DHS Aging and Adult Services Division collaborated with Wilder Research to describe Wilder Foundation's model to deliver customized living services to adults in Ravoux and Hamline Hi-Rise public housing programs in St. Paul. The study also described other similar models around the state, assessed the cost of delivering these services, and identified some of the benefits and challenges of the models.
Minnesota developed an Assisted Living Report Card to measure and report on the quality of individual assisted living settings for housing and services paid for privately and through public programs. The report card is a joint effort between the Department of Human Services (DHS) Aging and Adult Services Division (AASD) and the Minnesota Board on Aging (MBA). DHS shares results on the Assisted Living Report Card website and provides updates as new data on quality become available.
LTSS performance measures demonstrate how well the programs support people in their community while ensuring system sustainability. In general, people report they have a higher quality of life when living in the community. In addition, home and community-based services (HCBS), on average, are also less costly than institutional services.
The Department of Human Services uses the Employment First dashboards to track employment outcomes in Minnesota’s disability services system in support of Minnesota’s Employment First policy. This policy raises the expectation that all working age Minnesotans with disabilities:
Can work
Want to work
Can achieve competitive, integrated employment
Will be offered the opportunity to work and earn a competitive wage before being offered other supports and services.
The Minnesota Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is an annual telephone survey of adults conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since 1984. This survey collects data on a variety of health-related topics. This report of 2023 BRFSS data on Minnesotans provides a comprehensive snapshot of these health indicators, offering valuable insights into the health of Minnesota’s adult population. While this survey includes all adults, the results are disaggregated by age so information about older adults can be obtained.
This website contains reports describing initiatives related to aging and disability services and has a report specific to Minnesota. These initiatives measure and track how well home and community-based services (HCBS) support people with physical disabilities and people who are older. The goal is to understand how people use services and supports to help live, learn, work, and enjoy life in their community.
This website contains reports describing initiatives related to intellectual and developmental disability services, and has reports specific to Minnesota. These initiatives measure and track how well home and community-based services (HCBS), support people with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their families. The goal is to understand how people use services and supports to help live, learn, work, and enjoy life in their community.
The Minnesota Nursing Home Report Card helps inform nursing home choice. Long and short stay nursing homes may be searched on a variety of criteria including a number of quality measures.
This dashboard shows the percent of people who have their initial face to face LTSS assessment/screening while they are at home instead of in a residential setting and to measure the percent of people who are living at home at the latest assessment.
The Vulnerable Adult Protection Dashboard explains what happens after people report suspected maltreatment of a vulnerable adult to the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center (MAARC).
This website contains reports with information from each lead agency including corrective action plans when present. The overarching goal of the HCBS Lead Agency Review is to determine how HCBS programs are operating and meeting the needs of the people they serve.
The main databook includes: sociodemographic, geographic, and epidemiological characteristics, social determinants of health, injection drug use, HIV care continuum outcomes, and barriers to HIV medical care and medication adherence.
This website contains information about four priority access areas identified through previous Gaps Analysis studies and regional community meetings. The mission of Addressing Gaps is to connect partners with resources to improve access to equitable, culturally, and linguistically appropriate services for Minnesotans. This is an ongoing process to ultimately address the key gap areas that have been identified and improve access to services systems for older adults, people with disabilities and children, youth and adults living with mental health conditions in Minnesota.
The 2023-2024 Mental Health Grants report evaluates the programs that are funded under Minnesota Statutes and includes both adult and children's mental health state grant funded services. It starts with identified gaps in the adult mental health system and follows with a page for each of the grant funded programs. It notes instances where additional resources for a program that is working well would address service gaps in the continuum of mental health services in Minnesota.
Social and health programs need regular review
Program reports and recommendations
Quality ratings
Known gaps