News

Application forms for the COVID-19 Supplemental Payment funds are due to HUD by Aug. 5. 

Relief funds for private-pay assisted living providers are under consideration by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 

A Republican proposal introduced in the U.S. Senate this week, the HEALS Act (Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools Act) includes measures that address liability protections.  

The U.S. Housing & Urban Development Department (HUD) released a memo last week outlining plans to allocate the $10 million in Service Coordinator funding approved by the CARES Act at the end of March. The funds will support approximately 1,600 properties with grant-funded Service Coordinator programs. The agency said they plan to issue guidance for budget-funded Service Coordination and other COVID-related expenses soon.  

A monthly call is now available for HUD provider members to join others in our region for news and discussion.  Minnesota joins with LeadingAge Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana for these meetings which are scheduled for the third Thursday of each month at noon. 

The Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN), Form CMS-R-131, and instructions have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for renewal.  The use of the renewed form with the expiration date of 06/30/2023 will be mandatory on Aug. 31, 2020.

On July 14, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new guidance for states with respect to the home and community-based services (HCBS) Settings Rule. Citing the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS is extending key deadlines for compliance with the Settings Rule, including the final compliance deadline that is now March 17, 2023. 

The $1.2 billion in financial support provided by the Emergency Housing Assistance for Older Adults Act (S. 4177, H.R. 6873) must be included in Congress’ next COVID-19 relief package. Ask your members of Congress to help the more than 700,000 older adults in HUD-assisted housing. S. 4177 and H.R. 6873 would provide key relief for affordable senior housing communities navigating the impacts of the coronavirus crisis, including: 

Organizations that participate in the Medicare or Medicaid programs are prohibited from employing or contracting with a person or vendor on the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG), List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE). 

In a policy memo on June 25, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced temporary changes to the 5-star rating system on Nursing Home Compare. These changes include freezing pieces of the staffing and quality measures domains, as well as the immediate end to the payroll-based journal (PBJ) staffing submission waiver. 

The Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN), Form CMS-R-131, and instructions have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for renewal. The use of the renewed form with the expiration date of June 30, 2023 will be mandatory on Aug. 31, 2020.   

A new White House commission focused on protecting nursing home residents throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond was announced last week. Providers who were appointed to that commission are seeking deeper collaboration with regulators that is focused more on solutions, not penalties.  

Affordable housing providers should plan to participate in a RAD for PRAC call with HUD on Tuesday, June 30 at 1 p.m. The call will feature information about RAD flexibilities during COVID-19 and other updates, as well as a discussion on the new RAD for PRAC forms.  

As part of the response to COVID-19, the federal government has also been offering forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans to qualified small businesses through local lenders. Funding remains available for additional loans, so members who qualify and have not yet received a loan can still apply. 

LeadingAge has called upon the U.S. Housing & Urban Development Department (HUD) to release the $50 million for the Section 202 Housing for the Elderly program and remaining $200 million of Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance funds.  

The U.S. Supreme Court this week ruled that existing federal law forbids job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation of transgender status. The ruling will affect LGBTQ workers across the country, because most states don’t provide protections from workplace discrimination. However, that decision followed a federal announcement stripping transgender health protections from the Affordable Care Act.  

Six weeks after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that it would coordinate a shipment of personal protective equipment (PPE), totaling a 14-day supply, to Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes across the United States, significant numbers of facilities across the country still have not received a shipment. Some that have received supplies have found them to be low quality, even expired in some cases, or delivered in quantities smaller than expected. 

Testing a nursing home resident for COVID-19 more than once in a 24-hour period is not being encouraged, according to consolidated recommendations released by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) over the weekend. The updated guidance includes: 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it will distribute funds to Medicaid providers who do not participate in Medicare, including Assisted Living and Adult Day, through the Provider Relief Fund through a time-limited  application process vs. automatic payment. The application portal opens June 10 (today). Here’s what we know so far: 

If you want to be considered for future Provider Relief Fund payments from HHS you need to register and submit information by the end of today (June 3).