Disability waiver rate system inflationary adjustments modified, and conforming changes made.

A bill for an act

relating to human services; modifying disability waiver rate system inflationary

adjustments; making conforming changes; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024,

section 256B.4914, by adding a subdivision; Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement,

sections 256B.092, subdivision 3b; 256B.49, subdivision 17a; 256B.4914,

subdivision 5b.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement, section 256B.092, subdivision 3b, is

amended to read:

Subd. 3b.

Service authorizations and service agreements.

(a) Recipients must be

screened and authorized for services according to the federally approved waiver application

and its subsequent amendments.

(b) The commissioner must require lead agency supervisors to review and accept all

service agreements entered by lead agency staff into the Medicaid management information

system (MMIS) prior to the commissioner's approval of the service agreement.

(c) For a service agreement with a proposed total authorized amount that exceeds the

total authorized amount in the recipient's prior service agreement by more than the value

of legislatively enacted rate increases, the commissioner must manually review and manually

approve the service agreement in the MMIS. For purposes of this paragraph, "prior service

agreement" means the service agreement that was in effect 12 months prior to the start date

of the new proposed service agreement.

(d) In a format prescribed by the commissioner, lead agencies must submit the following

information for all service agreements subject to the commissioner's approval in paragraph

(c):

(1) changes in the number of units authorized;

(2) new services authorized;

(3) changes in the values used to calculate service rates under section
256B.4914
, except

for automatic adjustments required under section
256B.4914, subdivisions 5
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and
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,
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5b
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, and

5f
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;

(4) changes in the person's level of need that require an increase in the amount of services

authorized;

(5) documentation detailing why the previous amount of services is not sufficient to

meet the person's needs; and

(6) anticipated impact if the total service amount is not increased to the proposed amount.

(e) Except for rate increases required under section
256B.4914, subdivisions 5
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and
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new text begin
,
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5b
,
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and 5f,
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and rate changes authorized by the 2025 legislature, the commissioner must not

approve service agreements under paragraph (c) that are not the result of either a documented

change in a person's assessed needs or documented evidence that the previous level of

service was insufficient to meet the person's assessed needs.

(f) This subdivision expires upon full implementation of waiver reimagine. The

commissioner must inform the revisor of statutes when waiver reimagine is fully

implemented.

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EFFECTIVE DATE.

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This section is effective the day following final enactment.

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Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement, section 256B.49, subdivision 17a, is amended

to read:

Subd. 17a.

Service authorizations and service agreements.

(a) Recipients must be

screened and authorized for services according to the federally approved waiver application

and its subsequent amendments.

(b) The commissioner must require lead agency supervisors to review and accept all

service agreements entered by lead agency staff into the Medicaid management information

system (MMIS) prior to the commissioner's approval of the service agreement.

(c) For a service agreement with a proposed total authorized amount that exceeds the

total authorized amount in the recipient's prior service agreement by more than the value

of legislatively enacted rate increases, the commissioner must manually review and manually

approve the service agreement in the MMIS. For purposes of this paragraph, "prior service

agreement" means the service agreement that was in effect 12 months prior to the start date

of the new proposed service agreement.

(d) In a format prescribed by the commissioner, lead agencies must submit the following

information for all service agreements subject to the commissioner's approval in paragraph

(c):

(1) changes in the number of units authorized;

(2) new services authorized;

(3) changes in the values used to calculate service rates under section
256B.4914
, except

for automatic adjustments required under section
256B.4914, subdivisions 5
deleted text begin
and
deleted text end
new text begin
,
new text end
5b
new text begin
, and

5f
new text end
;

(4) changes in the person's level of need that require an increase in the amount of services

authorized;

(5) documentation detailing why the previous amount of services is not sufficient to

meet the person's needs; and

(6) anticipated impact if the total service amount is not increased to the proposed amount.

(e) Except for rate increases required under section
256B.4914, subdivisions 5
deleted text begin
and
deleted text end
new text begin
,
new text end
5b
,
new text begin

and 5f
new text end
and rate changes authorized by the 2025 legislature, the commissioner must not

approve service agreements under paragraph (c) that are not the result of either a documented

change in a person's assessed needs or documented evidence that the previous level of

service was insufficient to meet the person's assessed needs.

(f) This subdivision expires upon full implementation of waiver reimagine. The

commissioner must inform the revisor of statutes when waiver reimagine is fully

implemented.

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EFFECTIVE DATE.

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new text begin

This section is effective the day following final enactment.

new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement, section 256B.4914, subdivision 5b, is

amended to read:

Subd. 5b.

Standard component value adjustments.

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(a)
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The commissioner shall update

the base wage index under subdivision 5a; client and programming support, transportation,

and program facility cost component values as required in subdivisions 6 to 9; and the rates

identified in subdivision 19 for changes in the Consumer Price Index. If the result of this

update exceeds eight percent, the commissioner shall implement a change to the base wage

index, component values, and rates under subdivision 19 of eight percent. If the result of

this update is less than eight percent, the commissioner shall implement the full value of

the change. The commissioner shall adjust these values higher or lower, publish these

updated values, and load them into the rate management system on January 1, 2026, and

every two years thereafter, by the percentage change in the CPI-U from the date of the

previous update to the data available 24 months and one day prior to the scheduled update.

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(b) This subdivision expires upon the effective date of subdivision 5f.

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EFFECTIVE DATE.

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This section is effective the day following final enactment.

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Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 256B.4914, is amended by adding a subdivision

to read:

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Subd. 5f.

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Base wage index and standard component value adjustments.

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Effective

January 1, 2028, or upon federal approval, whichever is later, the commissioner shall update

the base wage index under subdivision 5a; client programming support, transportation, and

program facility cost component values as required in subdivisions 6 to 9; and the rates

identified in subdivision 19 for changes in the Consumer Price Index. If the result of this

update exceeds an increase of four percent, the commissioner shall implement a change of

four percent to the base wage index, component values, and rates under subdivision 19. If

the result of this update is an increase of less than four but greater than zero percent, the

commissioner shall implement the full value of the change. If the result of this update is a

decrease, the commissioner shall implement no change. The commissioner shall adjust the

values, publish the updated values, and load the updated values into the rate management

system on January 1 of each year by the percentage change in the CPI-U from the date of

the previous update to the data available 24 months and one day prior to the scheduled

update.

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EFFECTIVE DATE.

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This section is effective the day following final enactment.

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