Advisory Task Force on Waiver Reimagine meeting minutes

Date: March 23, 2026

Attendees

Support staff

Calla Oftedahl, Adrienne Hannert, Anna Yesberger, Frances Van Houten, Katie Pratt and Elian Sorensen

Advisory Task Force on Waiver Reimagine members

Rev. Katrin Bachmeier, Kris Erickson, Linda Fairchild, Lisa Harrison-Hadler, Dr. Katrina Jirik, Jenna Johnson, Julie Johnson, Meredith McKinnon, Gretchen Spier, Mike Tessneer, Mor Vue, Chad Wilson and Linda Wolford

Meeting objectives

· Share Department of Human Services (DHS) updates.

· Discuss the service menus and services included in the individual budget.

· Discuss the status of legislation related to Waiver Reimagine (WR).

· Share updates from task force work groups and adjacent WR efforts.

· Discuss task force co-chair roles.

Agenda

Welcome

· The regular March meeting of the Advisory Task Force on Waiver Reimagine was held virtually via Cisco Webex.

· Frances Van Houten, the meeting facilitator, provided an overview of the meeting agenda and outlined attendee expectations.

DHS updates

· DHS is launching a new WR website which will include pages for specific stakeholder groups, such as participants and families, providers, counties and tribes.

· DHS must submit a report to the legislature before sending the waiver application to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). DHS is able to share the draft with the ATFWR and/or work groups if they are interested.

· DHS changed their timeline for publishing the draft waiver plans. They must hold a 30-day public comment period before submitting the waiver application to CMS. DHS now plans to start public comment on Aug. 1, 2026, and submit the waiver application to CMS on Oct. 1, 2026.

DHS needs additional time to gather required financial information from the Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) for the waiver application.

· DHS determined it will not be possible to meet the Jan. 1, 2027, go-live date for WR. Therefore, they will delay implementation and share a revised timeline, including the new go-live date, as soon as it is available.

More information about the decision to delay WR is available on the Waiver Reimagine update: Delayed launch of Minnesota’s new disability waiver program webpage.

Service menus and budgets

· The task force discussed DHS’s proposed service menus for the two new waivers.

In Phase 1 of WR, DHS adjusted waiver service menus so that each waiver offers the same 32 services. All 32 of those services will be available on the Individual Support Waiver and/or the Residential Support Waiver. There will be significant crossover between the two waivers; however, not all services will be available on both.

The following services will be available only on the Individual Support Waiver:

Caregiver Living Expenses

Consumer Directed Community Supports

Environmental Accessibility Adaptations

Night Supervision.

The following services will be available only on the Residential Support Waiver:

Community Residential Services

Customized Living

Family Residential Services

Integrated Community Supports.

All other services will be available on both waivers.

The decision to exclude some services from each waiver was made to prevent duplication.

Home and Vehicle Modifications will be available to people on the Individual Support Waiver through the Environmental Accessibility Adaptations (EAA) service.

DHS understands there are constraints in allowing EAA through the Residential Support Waiver and will address this topic at a future task force meeting.

Consumer Directed Community Supports will only be available on the Individual Support Waiver.

After WR implementation, DHS will explore a service model that allows for self-direction on the Residential Support Waiver.

· The task force discussed DHS’s proposed list of services to be covered by participants’ budgets. Participants may access excluded services without using their budgeted funds. All other services, however, must be paid for out of their approved budget amounts.

Services that are excluded from the individual budget range are funded separately and not paid for out of participants’ approved budget amounts. These services must meet the following criteria:

Low-utilization

High-cost

Demonstrate a medical/professional need

(Can) have proper controls in place at the time of WR implementation.

DHS shared that the following services will likely not be subject to participants’ budget amounts:

Assistive Technology

Case Management

Case Management Aide

Crisis Respite

Employment Development

Employment Exploration

Employment Support

EAA

Positive Supports

Specialist Services

Specialized Supplies and Equipment

Transition Services

Regular Home Care Services (i.e., Community First Services and Supports, Home Care Nursing, Home Health Aide and Skilled Nurse Visits)

Regular Home Care Therapies (i.e., Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Respiratory Therapy and Speech Therapy)

Note: DHS does not plan to authorize these therapies through the Disability Waiver.

DHS plans for all other services to be inside the budget. Services “inside” the budget are subject to and paid for within a person’s individual budget range. However, this information is not final.