Minnesota Statutes Public Welfare and Related Activities (Ch. 245-267) § 256R.37. Scholarships

(a) The commissioner shall provide a scholarship per diem rate calculated using the criteria in paragraphs (b) to (d). The per diem rate must be based on the allowable costs the facility paid for employee scholarships for any eligible employee, except the facility administrator, who works an average of at least ten hours per week in the licensed nursing facility building when the facility has paid expenses related to:

(b) Allowable scholarship costs include: tuition, student loan reimbursement, other direct educational expenses, and reasonable costs for child care and transportation expenses directly related to education, as defined by the commissioner.

(c) The commissioner shall provide a scholarship per diem rate equal to the allowable scholarship costs divided by resident days. The commissioner shall compute the scholarship per diem rate annually and include the scholarship per diem rate in the external fixed costs payment rate.

(d) When the resulting scholarship per diem rate is 15 cents or more, nursing facilities that close beds during a rate year may request to have the scholarship rate recalculated. This recalculation is effective from the date of the bed closure through the remainder of the rate year and reflects the estimated reduction in resident days compared to the previous cost report year.

(e) Facilities seeking to have the facility's scholarship expenses recognized for the payment rate computation insection 256R.25may apply annually by submitting information to the commissioner on a schedule and in a form supplied by the commissioner.