Short answer: yes. The bond does not go away, and the amount does not change.

Minnesota is folding Personal Care Assistance and the Consumer Support Grant into Community First Services and Supports, and PCA is discontinued after September 30, 2027. That has agency owners across the state asking a reasonable question. If the program I enrolled in is disappearing, is the surety bond I have been renewing every year disappearing with it?

It is not. The legislature carried the bond requirement into the CFSS statute nearly word for word. Same amounts, same revenue threshold, same annual renewal. What changes is which form you file it on and which training your owners hold.

The one-line version. Minn. Stat. 256B.85 subd. 12 requires CFSS agency-providers to post a $50,000 surety bond on new enrollment or when prior-year Medicaid revenue was $300,000 or less, and $100,000 when it was more. That is the same language PCA agencies have lived under in Minn. Stat. 256B.0659 subd. 21.

Which bond amount applies to you

This is the part most agency owners get wrong, and it was wrong on nearly every page we reviewed before writing this one. The Minnesota bond is not a flat number. It is tiered by revenue, and the test is the previous calendar year.

Your situation

Enrolling for the first time ...Bond Amount $50,000

Prior calendar year Medicaid revenue of $300,000 or less ...Bond Amount $50,000

Prior calendar year Medicaid revenue above $300,000 ...Bond Amount$100,000

Every agency starts at $50,000, no matter how large the business plan is, because a first-time enrollee has no prior year to measure. The number that catches people is the second row. Cross $300,000 and you move up at your next annual renewal, not the moment you cross it. Agencies that grow through the threshold in the spring get a surprise at renewal the following year and have not budgeted for it.

If you are not sure which side of the line you are on, pull last calendar year's Medicaid revenue before you buy anything. You can apply for the Minnesota $50,000 PCA agency bond or the $100,000 tier and see real pricing in a couple of minutes either way.

What actually changes when you move to CFSS

Three things, and none of them is the bond amount.

The bond form

PCA enrollment uses the PCA Agency Surety Bond, form DHS-6033. CFSS enrollment uses the CFSS Surety Bond, form DHS-8558. Same obligee, same dollar figure, different prescribed form. If you are operating under both programs during the transition, confirm with DHS Provider Eligibility and Compliance which form or forms your file needs before you buy. Do not assume one bond satisfies two enrollments, and do not assume it does not. Ask.

The training

Owners and managing employees involved in operations need CFSS Steps for Success. If they already hold a PCA Steps for Success certificate, there is a shorter transitional version. This trips up agencies who assume their existing certificates carry over untouched.

The enrollment file itself

CFSS is a separate provider enrollment, not a rename of your existing one. You enroll as a CFSS agency-provider through MHCP. Applications are processed in the order received and DHS advises allowing roughly 30 days, which is worth knowing if you are timing this around a renewal.

The mistake that sends packets back: two bonds, not one

This is the single most common reason a Minnesota enrollment file gets returned, and it has nothing to do with the transition. It has been true the whole time.

DHS requires two separate instruments, and they are different products bought for different reasons.

• The surety bond. $50,000 or $100,000 depending on your tier. It protects the state against your agency's noncompliance and improper billing. If a claim is paid, the surety pays it and then comes to you for reimbursement.
• The fidelity bond. $20,000. It covers employee theft. DHS specifies that it must be paid in full with no premium showing as due on the proof of bond document.

Neither one substitutes for the other. An agency that buys only the surety bond gets its packet returned, and so does an agency that buys only the fidelity bond. Read the DHS enrollment checklist directly rather than assuming your agent covered both.

The timeline you are working against

The active transition phase opened October 1, 2024 and runs through September 30, 2027. Alternative Care participants came off PCA earlier, in March 2026. After the September 2027 date, PCA is done.

That leaves roughly a year. Two practical consequences:

1. If you are opening a new agency right now, look hard at enrolling directly as a CFSS agency-provider rather than standing up a PCA enrollment you will have to redo inside twelve months. The bond cost is identical either way, so the decision is about paperwork and training, not money.
2. If you are an existing PCA agency, do not let the bond lapse while you sort out the transition. A gap in coverage puts your MHCP enrollment at risk, and the state can pursue recovery on a debt for six years from the date it is affirmed by final agency decision. The exposure outlives any single policy term.

What the bond actually does, briefly

Worth restating because a lot of agency owners have this backwards. A surety bond is not insurance for your agency. It is a three-party guarantee. Your agency is the principal, the Minnesota Department of Human Services is the obligee, and the surety stands behind your compliance with the program rules.

The statute lets DHS recover its costs and fees in pursuing a claim. If the surety pays, it seeks reimbursement from you. That is exactly why the annual premium is a small fraction of the face amount, and why underwriting looks at ownership credit rather than at the size of the bond.

If you want coverage for your agency's own losses, that is general liability and professional liability insurance. Separate products, separately required at enrollment.

What to do this month

• Pull last calendar year's Medicaid revenue and confirm your tier.
• Check whether your current bond is on DHS-6033 and whether your CFSS enrollment will need DHS-8558.
• Confirm your owners and managing employees have the right Steps for Success certificate, PCA or CFSS.
• Verify your $20,000 fidelity bond is in force and shows paid in full.
• Calendar the annual bond renewal, and if you expect to cross $300,000, budget for the higher tier a year out.

Get your bond

We write both Minnesota tiers, and pricing is instant.

• Minnesota PCA Agency Bond, $50,000 for new enrollments and agencies at or under $300,000 in prior-year Medicaid revenue.
• Minnesota PCA Agency Bond, $100,000 for agencies above $300,000 in prior-year Medicaid revenue.

Most applicants get a real number the same day. If your credit is rough, apply anyway. On bonds this size credit shapes the rate far more often than it blocks the bond.

Sources

• Minn. Stat. 256B.0659, PCA provider agency bond at subdivision 21
• Minn. Stat. 256B.85, CFSS agency-provider bond at subdivision 12
• Minnesota DHS, CFSS Provider Enrollment
• Minnesota DHS, Transition from PCA and CSG to CFSS

Program rules change. Confirm current requirements with DHS Provider Eligibility and Compliance before you file.