Senate Human Services Committee hears DHS outline of governor's human services budget; members raise concerns about county cost shifts and nursing home strain

Chair Hoffman convened the Minnesota Senate Human Services Committee on Feb. 17 to hear Department of Human Services officials present the governor and lieutenant governor’s budget proposal and to take members’ initial questions.

The presentation, delivered by Shereen Gandhi (temporary commissioner, Department of Human Services), Elise Bailey (budget director, Department of Human Services) and Natasha Merce (assistant commissioner for aging and disability services), outlined a mix of proposals the department said would strengthen program integrity, slow spending growth and target workforce and billing reforms. "The majority of our budget is aimed at curbing increased growth and spending," Elise Bailey told the committee.

The proposals matter because they affect services used by Minnesotans across the state: disability waiver recipients, people in recovery residences or receiving substance use disorder treatment, nursing home residents and direct care workers. Committee members repeatedly pressed DHS staff about the budget’s projected savings, whether those cuts were being driven by the department’s forecast or the state’s base budget, and how much of the plan simply shifts costs to counties.

DHS officials summarized a wide set of changes. On program integrity and behavioral health, Bailey described a package that includes a provisional licensure pathway and earlier revalidation for early intensive developmental and behavioral intervention (EIDBI) providers, changes to substance use disorder billing (moving from one-hour billing codes to six 15-minute unit codes to align with ASAM guidance), and a certification process for recovery residences tied to the National Association of Recovery…