SF No. 2515 amends the long-term care consultation services statute, as well as the statutes governing the elderly waiver, the developmental disability waiver, and the disability waivers.

Section 1 (256B.0911, subdivision 1a) removes long-term care consultation services (otherwise known as a MnCHOICES assessment) as the required process for determining whether the family of a minor with a disability is eligible for a support grant.

Section 2 (256B.0911, subdivision 3a)

Paragraph (d) removes a requirement that a legal representative of a person receiving a MnCHOICES assessment be physically present during an assessor’s face-to-face assessment of the person seeking long-term care and permits the legal representative to participate in the assessment remotely instead.

Paragraph (e) removes the existing requirement that a MnCHOICES assessor complete a community support plan within 40 calendar days of the assessment. DHS will determine a new deadline for completing the community support plan, but the total time for the assessor to complete the community support plan and the case manager to complete the coordinated service and support plan must not exceed 56 days.

Paragraph (k) allows the results of a MnCHOICES assessment to establish service eligibility for developmental disability waiver services for up to 60 days from the time of the assessment. Paragraph (k) interacts with existing paragraph (m) to permit a service eligibility update for developmental disability waiver services to extend the validity of a MnCHOICES assessment for an additional 30 days. These changes align the service eligibility timelines for developmental disability waiver services with the timelines for the other home and community-based waiver and alternative care services.

Section 3 (256B.0911, subdivision 3f) requires DHS to establish timelines for a MnCHOICES assessor, following an annual MnCHOICES reassessment, to complete an updated coordinated support plan and a case manager to complete an updated coordinated service and support plan.

Sections 4 – 6 (256B.0915, subdivision 6, paragraph (a), clause (1); 256B.092, subdivision 1b, paragraph (a), clause (1); and 256B.49, subdivision 13, paragraph (a), clause (1)) remove the current ten-day deadline for case managers to complete coordinated service and support plans for people receiving any home and community-based waiver services or alternative care.  DHS will determine a new deadline for completing coordinated service and support plans, but the total time for a MnCHOICES assessor to complete the community support plan and the case manager to complete the coordinated service and support plan must not exceed 56 days.