Friday, May 5, 2017

9:30-11:00am

Public Policy Forum

Large Conference Room – Ewald Consulting

MDH (Dana Farley): No updates

DHS (Brian Zirbes):

  • SUD reform – conference committee budget came out last week which aligns with the Governor’s proposal. If SUD reform passes as is, the next step is for DHS to work with Federal government to get the funding mechanisms approved by July 2018. DHS will send out a survey to providers on how to implement the reform package.
  • Feedback to DHS:
  • There have been some technical challenges that may need to be addressed. It will be helpful when you are receiving feedback from providers, to share how you are implementing that feedback.
  • How will licensing violations be handled if rule is transferred into statute?
  • It was asked if providing the 30 hours for clinical service hours vs. ensuring every patient receives the 30 hours per week should satisfy the requirement. Licensing representative is new to the department and will look into it.
  • If there are changes in the wording or interpretation of the license, can we have the licensing department communicate those changes?
  • It has been identified that SNAP benefits are not available to be used while an individual is involved in treatment. Who put this in the language? (no answer)
  • 1115 Waiver – DHS is planning to have 4 listening sessions starting in June. They will send out a “save the date” in the next week or two. Their plan is to provide a tutorial on what the waiver entails, policy discussion of the benefits and items in a proposal they plan to submit to the Federal and then Q&A. By July or August 2017 they will develop the draft proposal and finalized in September in order to submit by September 30. They are still in a holding pattern with CMS regarding identifying IMD programs.
  • Question: What is the plan to bridge the gap between July and the response from the federal government with the waiver? A: There is no plan. The 15-day capitation will be covered retrospectively in MMIS. This coverage will come from state funds. This resets on the first of each month.
  • Parity – Department of Commerce, DHS and Department of Health are developing a toolkit to help providers to help understand parity and who to contact if violation occurs.
  • State Targeted Grant – DHS had an overwhelming response for this RFP. Minnesota will receive $5.4 million. The award letter indicates 12 full months for both year 1 and 2. The review teams will look at the proposals for the next two weeks with the hope to have all contracts fully executed by the end of July.

MARRCH Legislative Services Update (Tom Hanson)

MARRCH policy priorities for this session:

  • Rate increase of 3%: Baker and Dean are the authors and incredibly supportive. The request is currently in the budget and if nothing changes we should see this go into effect July 1, 2017.
  • Paperwork reduction: MARRCH has worked with DHS and Rep. Dean on language and are waiting to hear back on the cost for a mediator to discuss the paperwork (a special department to help work with stakeholders). The house and the senate differed on this item. The Senate is concerned that there was no hearing and it was not included in a bill.
  • SUD reform: MARRCH did not advocate on rule or statute. MARRCH supported both the senate and house version of the bill. We did identify 6-7 items that were onerous and Winthrop and Weinstine helped to isolate those items out of the senate bill (these were removed).

There’s no reason that we should see a government shutdown this year.

Minnesota Recovery Connection (Julia Alexander): They are preparing Recovery month activities. The next Recovery Coach Academy is at the end of July. Application material is available on the website and due the first week of June. They are prioritizing applications to accept individuals that intend to work on opiate use issues.

Recovery is Happening (Phil Rutherford): June 12-16 is the next Peer Recovery Specialist Academy. The practice of peer support has been helpful with alumni groups.

MMB (Weston Merrick): no report

Announcements:

  • Steve Rummler Foundation will be having their Twins game fundraiser on June 14.
  • The 1 cent per milligram fee is still in the Governor’s proposal
  • NuWay was granted a license for outpatient in St. Paul.
  • Our Spring Conference was a great training event. We had a full house of sponsors, thanks to everyone that made that happen.