Care at Minnesota Veterans Homes Slowly Improving
After years of care problems at Minnesota's five veterans' homes, the Department of Veterans Affairs assumed control over the facilities in 2007. The Minneapolis facility alone was fined $42,300 between 2005 and 2007 and was cited for 66 state violations during that time.
Unfortunately, improvement is slow. New data shows that the fall rate at the Minnesota facility is nearly twice that of other veterans' facilties. That facility has also been unable to hire enough staff to keep overtime costs under control. A recent legislative audit report found that the Minneapolis facility had sloppy fiscal management and accounting, in addition to the care-related problems.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is considering whether or not to shift funding of the veterans homes to Medicaid for federal funding instead of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Minneapolis home alone operates on a $35 million annual budget. A switch to Medicaid funding would change the current rule allowing veterans to give away their assets when moving into a veterans' facility instead of paying for their own care.
