The bill seeks to improve home care services under Minnesota's medical assistance program by officially recognizing "care evaluation" as a covered service. This evaluation entails a face-to-face assessment aimed at developing or updating a recipient's care plan, excluding personal care assistance. The legislation modifies existing statutes to include care evaluations alongside other covered home care services such as nursing and home health services. It also establishes reimbursement rates for these evaluations based on a percentage of the skilled nursing visit rate and specifies that they must occur during designated visits, including start-of-care or recertification visits.

Additionally, the bill requires the commissioner of human services to provide guidance on billable care coordination activities related to medical assistance home care services by January 1, 2024. This guidance will clarify which services can be billed under medical assistance, enhancing provider awareness of care coordination options. Furthermore, the commissioner is tasked with reporting to legislative committees by February 1, 2024, summarizing potentially billable services identified through collaboration with stakeholders, thereby promoting transparency in home care service delivery. The bill also includes provisions for updating base wages for homemaker services biennially based on labor statistics and introduces new rate structures for various home care services, effective January 1, 2024.

Statutes affected:
Introduction: 256B.0651, 256B.0652, 256B.0653, 256B.0654, 256B.4912, 256B.85, 256S.18, 256S.2101, 256S.212