1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to human services; modifying procedures for 
  1.3             the approval of nursing facility wage and benefit 
  1.4             distribution plans; amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, 
  1.5             section 256B.431, subdivision 34. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 256B.431, 
  1.8   subdivision 34, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 34.  [NURSING FACILITY RATE INCREASES BEGINNING JULY 
  1.10  1, 2001, AND JULY 1, 2002.] (a) For the rate years beginning 
  1.11  July 1, 2001, and July 1, 2002, two-thirds of the money 
  1.12  resulting from the rate adjustment under subdivision 31 and 
  1.13  one-half of the money resulting from the rate adjustment under 
  1.14  subdivisions 32 and 33 must be used to increase the wages and 
  1.15  benefits and pay associated costs of all employees except 
  1.16  management fees, the administrator, and central office staff. 
  1.17     (b) Money received by a facility as a result of the rate 
  1.18  adjustments provided in subdivisions 31 to 33, which must be 
  1.19  used as provided in paragraph (a), must be used only for wage 
  1.20  and benefit increases implemented on or after July 1, 2001, or 
  1.21  July 1, 2002, respectively, and must not be used for wage 
  1.22  increases implemented prior to those dates. 
  1.23     (c) Nursing facilities may apply for the portions of the 
  1.24  rate adjustments under subdivisions 31 to 33, which must be used 
  1.25  as provided in paragraph (a).  The application must be made to 
  2.1   the commissioner and contain a plan by which the nursing 
  2.2   facility will distribute to employees of the nursing facility 
  2.3   the funds, which must be used as provided in paragraph (a).  For 
  2.4   nursing facilities in which the employees are represented by an 
  2.5   exclusive bargaining representative, an agreement negotiated and 
  2.6   agreed to by the employer and the exclusive bargaining 
  2.7   representative constitutes the plan.  A negotiated agreement may 
  2.8   constitute the plan only if the agreement is finalized after the 
  2.9   date of enactment of all increases for the rate year.  The 
  2.10  commissioner shall review the plan to ensure that the rate 
  2.11  adjustments are used as provided in paragraph (a).  To be 
  2.12  eligible, a facility must submit its plan for the wage and 
  2.13  benefit distribution by December 31 each year.  If a facility's 
  2.14  plan for wage and benefit distribution is effective for its 
  2.15  employees after July 1 of the year that the funds are available, 
  2.16  the portion of the rate adjustments, which must be used as 
  2.17  provided in paragraph (a), are effective the same date as its 
  2.18  plan. 
  2.19     (d) A hospital-attached nursing facility may include costs 
  2.20  in their distribution plan for wages and benefits and associated 
  2.21  costs of employees in the organization's shared services 
  2.22  departments, provided that: 
  2.23     (1) the nursing facility and the hospital share common 
  2.24  ownership; and 
  2.25     (2) adjustments for hospital services using the 
  2.26  diagnostic-related grouping payment rates per admission under 
  2.27  Medicare are less than three percent during the 12 months prior 
  2.28  to the effective date of these rate adjustments. 
  2.29     If a hospital-attached facility meets the qualifications in 
  2.30  this paragraph, the difference between the rate adjustments 
  2.31  approved for nursing facility services and the rate increase 
  2.32  approved for hospital services may be permitted as a 
  2.33  distribution in the hospital-attached facility's plan regardless 
  2.34  of whether the use of those funds is shown as being attributable 
  2.35  to employee hours worked in the nursing facility or employee 
  2.36  hours worked in the hospital. 
  3.1      For the purposes of this paragraph, a hospital-attached 
  3.2   nursing facility is one that meets the definition under 
  3.3   subdivision 2j, or, in the case of a facility reimbursed under 
  3.4   section 256B.434, met this definition at the time their last 
  3.5   payment rate was established under Minnesota Rules, parts 
  3.6   9549.0010 to 9549.0080, and this section. 
  3.7      (e) A copy of the approved distribution plan must be made 
  3.8   available to all employees by giving each employee a copy or by 
  3.9   posting it in an area of the nursing facility to which all 
  3.10  employees have access.  If an employee does not receive the wage 
  3.11  and benefit adjustment described in the facility's approved plan 
  3.12  and is unable to resolve the problem with the facility's 
  3.13  management or through the employee's union representative, the 
  3.14  employee may contact the commissioner at an address or telephone 
  3.15  number provided by the commissioner and included in the approved 
  3.16  plan.  
  3.17     (f) Notwithstanding section 256B.48, subdivision 1, clause 
  3.18  (a), upon the request of a nursing facility, the commissioner 
  3.19  may authorize the facility to raise per diem rates for 
  3.20  private-pay residents on July 1 by the amount anticipated to be 
  3.21  required upon implementation of the rate adjustments allowable 
  3.22  under subdivisions 31 to 33.  The commissioner shall require any 
  3.23  amounts collected under this paragraph, which must be used as 
  3.24  provided in paragraph (a), to be placed in an escrow account 
  3.25  established for this purpose with a financial institution that 
  3.26  provides deposit insurance until the medical assistance rate is 
  3.27  finalized.  The commissioner shall conduct audits as necessary 
  3.28  to ensure that: 
  3.29     (1) the amounts collected are retained in escrow until 
  3.30  medical assistance rates are increased to reflect the 
  3.31  wage-related adjustment; and 
  3.32     (2) any amounts collected from private-pay residents in 
  3.33  excess of the final medical assistance rate are repaid to the 
  3.34  private-pay residents with interest at the rate used by the 
  3.35  commissioner of revenue for the late payment of taxes and in 
  3.36  effect on the date the distribution plan is approved by the 
  4.1   commissioner of human services. 
  4.2      (g) Notwithstanding paragraph (c), the commissioner shall 
  4.3   grant an extension until June 30, 2003, for approval of a wage 
  4.4   and benefit distribution plan for a nursing facility located in 
  4.5   Hubbard county licensed for 124 beds as of March 3, 2003, and 
  4.6   shall approve the plan if one-half or more of the exclusive 
  4.7   bargaining representatives eligible to negotiate and agree to 
  4.8   the plan on behalf of the facility's employees do agree to the 
  4.9   plan.  The terms of a plan approved under this paragraph shall 
  4.10  apply to all employees represented by an exclusive bargaining 
  4.11  representative, whether or not the exclusive bargaining 
  4.12  representative agreed to the plan. 
  4.13     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective the day 
  4.14  following final enactment.