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SF 4595

Department of Human Services home and community-based services early and often licensor and compliance team establishment

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by John Hoffman and 2 co-sponsors

DHS will create a proactive HCBS licensor and compliance team to provide technical assistance and oversight during licensure and the first year of operation.

Referred to Human Services
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Bill Summary · SF 4595

Summary of SF 4595 (2025-2026) – Minnesota

Title

Department of Human Services home and community-based services early and often licensor and compliance team establishment

Purpose and intent

  • Establish a dedicated, proactive “home and community-based services early and often licensor and compliance team” within the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS).
  • The team’s goal is to deliver proactive, coordinated support to:
    • Applicants seeking licensure for home and community-based services (HCBS).
    • License holders during the first year of operation of their licensed HCBS program.
  • Ensure the team has sufficient staff with expertise in licensing, medical assistance enrollment, service delivery, and billing requirements to support compliance and enrollment processes.

Key provisions and changes

  • New subdivision added to Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 245A.042, creating Subd. 7:
    • (a) Establishment of the team.
    • DHS commissioner must establish and maintain the HCBS early and often licensor and compliance team.
    • The team must provide proactive, coordinated support throughout the license application process and during the first year of operation.
    • Staffing and resources must be sufficient to carry out required functions.
    • Team must include members with expertise in licensing, MA enrollment, MA service delivery, and MA billing.
    • (b) Technical assistance to applicants.
    • The team must provide technical assistance for license applications under chapter 245A and 256D, and MA provider enrollment applications under section 256B.04, subdivision 21.
    • (c) Initial technical assistance visit.
    • Approximately three months after the effective date of an initial license, the team must conduct a scheduled technical assistance visit to help the license holder achieve and maintain compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations for HCBS, and related chapters (245A, 245D, 256B, 256S) and waiver plans.
    • (d) Unscheduled visits.
    • The team must conduct three unscheduled visits after the beginning of the sixth calendar month and before the end of the eighteenth month following the initial license date.
    • (e) Licensing and compliance recommendations.
    • If during the technical assistance visit or the three unscheduled visits a license holder is found not to be in compliance (and violations do not imminently endanger health, safety, or rights), the team may issue a licensing and compliance review report with recommendations to achieve and maintain compliance.
    • (f) Retained DHS authority.
    • The new subdivision does not limit the commissioner’s existing authority to:
      • Suspend or revoke a license, issue fines, or issue correction orders (under sections 245A.07 and 245A.06) based on violation severity, nature, chronicity, and impact on health, safety, or rights.
      • Impose a sanction under section 256B.064 for violations, based on similar criteria.

Who/what is affected

  • Home and community-based services providers seeking licensure and those already licensed to operate HCBS programs in Minnesota.
  • Applicants and license holders undergoing DHS licensing and medical assistance (MA) enrollment, service delivery, and billing processes.
  • DHS, specifically the Department of Human Services, with a new dedicated team to support HCBS licensure and compliance.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Effective date not specified in the bill text excerpt; the provisions reference the “effective date of an initial license” for scheduling visits.
  • The timeline for ongoing interaction:
    • Initial technical assistance visit: ~3 months after initial license.
    • Three unscheduled visits: starting after the 6th calendar month, through before the 18th month following the initial license.
  • Continuous ability for DHS to enforce existing sanctions and licensing actions if noncompliance is found, ensuring that the new team supplements—not replaces—existing enforcement authority.

Practical impact

  • Intended to reduce delays and barriers in licensure and MA enrollment by providing hands-on, proactive support to applicants.
  • Aims to improve initial compliance and quality of HCBS programs during the critical first year of operation.
  • May lead to increased DHS oversight and potential quicker remediation for providers, with an emphasis on preventing health, safety, or rights violations.

Sponsorship and status

  • Introduced and referred to the Human Services committee on March 18, 2026.
  • Primary and co-sponsors: Zaynab Mohamed, Erin Maye Quade, John Hoffman.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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