March 31, 2022
On March 28, the Minnesota Senate announced a $1.32 billion budget priority aimed at improving care facilities in Minnesota.
The proposal is intended to help address staffing challenges faced by facilities and agencies that employ personal care assistants and other direct support professionals. It would allocate $1 billion to raise the wages of workers at home care agencies, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and intermediate care facilities. The proposal also contains more than $300 million to recruit additional workers in these facilities.
Most years at this time in the session, legislative leaders set “budget targets” for each area of the state’s budget. This year, however, the Senate has set a “budget priority” for this area. As opposed to budget targets, the budget priority is variable as opposed to a hard-set target. The initiative was announced by Sen. Jim Abeler (R-Anoka) and Sen. Karin Housley (R-Stillwater) and will be heard in the Human Services Reform Finance and Policy Committee on April 5.
The Senate also introduced its Health and Human Services omnibus bill. The bill, SF 4198 (Sen. Paul Utke-R, Park Rapids) includes language to establish interstate license compacts for nurses, audiologists and speech language pathologists. It also includes language protection for prescribers who prescribe controlled substances for the treatment of intractable pain, which the MMA has supported.
The bill also includes language authorizing pharmacists to perform certain lab tests and authorizes pharmacy technician and pharmacist interns to administer vaccines. The MMA has worked with stakeholders to include mutually agreeable language.
SF 4198 was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.
August 28, 2025
The apparent removal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director, Susan Monarez, PhD, after just weeks on the job, further imperils the work of the CDC and the health of Americans. Her removal was followed by the resignations of other senior leaders at the CDC, who have accused HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. of undermining scientific recommendations for vaccines.
August 26, 2025
University of Minnesota President Rebecca Cunningham, MD, will speak at the Empowering Physicians: A Night of Learning & Connection event on Friday, September 26, from 4 to 9 pm, at the historic Hewing Hotel in downtown Minneapolis.
August 26, 2025
America's physicians are seeing a rise in misinformation and disinformation from patients these days, and it’s impacting patient care, according to a new study from the Physicians Foundation.