Conferees come to agreement on human services policy bill

— UPDATED May 16 with link to the report

The first conference committee agreement has been reached.

The omnibus human services policy conference committee came to an agreement on HF2115 Wednesday night after amendments and motions came at a furious pace.

“These are tough things we have to work on and when we get to the budget it’s going to be the same thing,” said Sen. John Hoffman (DFL-Champlin), who co-chaired the conference committee with Rep. Joe Schomacker (R-Luverne). “But look what we did here. You talk about a dynamic structure here and we were able to come together and do what we do.”

The conference committee report next goes to the House and Senate for approval.

Items in the agreement include:

• providing residents of long-term care facilities with the right to a designated support person;
• requiring the Human Services Department to approve medication administration curricula for unlicensed personnel;
• prohibiting an assisted living facility from requiring a resident or potential resident to sign a contract containing a provision for binding arbitration as a condition of admission to, or as a requirement for, continued care at a facility;
• expanding services parents are allowed to provide under consumer-directed community supports to include certain personal assistance services to a minor child while temporarily out of state;
• exempting intensive residential treatment services and residential crisis stabilization residents from certain rights in the Health Care Bill of Rights;
• prohibiting county boards from charging for emergency services provided to clients experiencing emotional crisis or mental illness, and require promotion of 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline;
• expanding the Health Care Bill of Rights expansion to include patients in children’s residential SUD treatment, nonresidential SUD treatment, IRTS or residential crisis stabilization, and withdrawal management programs;
• repealing Minnesota Rules governing Medical Assistance payment for clinic services;
• excluding weekends and holidays from mental health diagnostic assessment 10-day timeline;
• specifying that co-payments, coinsurance and deductibles do not apply to mobile crisis intervention or crisis assessment services;
• requiring training about a program’s drug and alcohol policy before a person has direct contact with persons served by the program; and
• adding financial management services, community first services and supports, unlicensed home and community-based organizations, and consumer-directed community supports organizations for purposes of limited set-asides.