Assisted Living and Nursing Home Laws in Minnesota

Not all Assisted Living places take payments from government programs. Make sure you check.
If you want government help to pay for your Assisted Living you have to do a Medical Assistance (MA) long-term care application AND a MN Choices assessment.
You might have to pay for home care on your own until your MA application is approved. This usually takes months.
MA can pay for services you need, but you may need to pay for rent and food. Some people may be able to get help from a state program called Housing Support. To use Housing Support, your Assisted Living needs to keep rent and food below $1,192 a month.
MA has an asset and income limit. If you have a large amount of assets or a high income, you may want to talk to a lawyer who works on MA planning. A lawyer can talk to you about the best way to use your income and assets for your goals.

How do I choose Assisted Living?

You have strong rights under law. These include:

See our fact sheet Assisted Living Bill of Rights. Some of the main rights under it are:

Before you move into an assisted living facility, there must be a contract. The contract should list everything that you agree to about your housing and services and how much it costs. You and the facility sign the contract.
When you sign the contract, you should name a “designated representative.” This person helps you, gets notices about things that could affect you, and advocates for you if needed. Name someone you trust.
You have the right to complain about your housing and services. You have a right to know who you should complain to. You must get a response within a reasonable time.

Assisted Living Facilities must be licensed. This includes ones that offer memory or dementia care. Check with the Minnesota Department of Health to make sure the place you are thinking about is licensed. Call them at 651-201-4200 or email them at health.assistedliving@state.mn.us.
They can only end your contract and ask you to leave for a few certain reasons, like:
- you don’t pay the monthly charges
- you violate what you agreed to in the contract
- they can’t take care of you anymore because of a change in your health condition or conduct
- your behavior interferes with the rights, safety or health of other residents or staff
You have the right to appeal a contract termination.

If the Assisted Living Facility wants to end services they offer to you, you can still stay there if you bring in your own services at your own cost.
If you have to move out, they have to help you move to another place. They can’t move you to a place that is not safe or a place that can’t give you the services you need.
As long as your roommate agrees, you can put a camera in your room to monitor your safety. You have to give the Assisted Living Facility a signed form if you want a camera.

You can find forms at health.state.mn.us/facilities/regulation/emonitoring/. This web page has information and links to different forms for different situations.
If you or anyone looking out for you
- makes a complaint,
- files an abuse report, or
- stands up for your rights
  
  the assisted living place and/or its employees can’t do things to get back at you.
You have the right to get information in a way that you understand best. This might be in another language, including braille or ASL.

You have regular tenant rights. You have many of the same rights listed above for Assisted Living. You also have more protections.

There are only 6 reasons you can be discharged from a Nursing Home:

It is important that the Nursing Home takes the right steps before deciding to discharge you, like:

Notify you and your representatives, like your Ombudsman, of the reasons for the discharge

There is a Health Care Bill of Rights in Minnesota law. It protects you against being forced to take medications or treatments that you refuse.