News

LeadingAge last week commended the Ensuring Seniors’ Access to Quality Care Act, a new bill in the U.S. Senate that ends mandatory certified nursing assistant (CNA) training lock-outs. Now you can help this bill advance in Congress by telling our U.S. Senators and your U.S. Representative to support this bill.  

Looming deadlines pose a potential threat to two programs that help older adults remain in their homes or assisted living while saving consumers and the State of Minnesota money. Rules on spousal impoverishment and funding for the Money Follows the Person demonstration project are both set to expire Dec. 31 unless Congress acts.  

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that the Phase 3 Requirements of Participation for care centers will take effect Nov. 28, but the agency will not release interpretive guidance and training materials for these requirements until early 2020. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently awarded a five-year contract to Superior Health Quality Alliance (Superior Health) to serve as a Quality Innovation Network – Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. 

A new bill in Congress, the Quality Care for Nursing Home Residents Act, would revise minimum staffing requirements for skilled nursing settings that participate in Medicare and Medicaid. LeadingAge opposes the legislation as it fails to address the underlying causes and rising challenges of workforce shortages across the long-term care continuum.  

One of the greatest challenges facing our field, our state and our country just hit the national stage. Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg this week introduced his Dignity and Security in Retirement proposal to ensure every American has access to affordable health care. 

Testifiers in a hearing in the U.S. House Ways & Means Committee last week called for bipartisan legislative action to address the needs of a growing aging population facing high costs of healthcare and housing. 

In a report released last week, the Government Accountability Offices (GA)) alleges that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has yet to enforce several of its recommendations after an earlier GAO report found oversight gaps in abuse reporting requirements for nursing homes. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has made two revisions to emergency preparedness requirements for nursing facilities under a rule taking effect Nov. 29, 2019. Read a summary of the rule’s impact prepared by LeadingAge national.  

Get the latest scoop on what is happening in Congress and how we can work together to accomplish our important legislative agenda. Join the LeadingAge Capitol Hill Insights call on Nov. 21 at 1 p.m.  

Congress has yet to pass a FY20 HUD appropriations bill as the House and Senate Appropriations Committee have not reached an agreement on spending limits. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the submission deadline for the Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program MDS assessment data for April 1, 2019 – June 30, 2019. All data must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 18.  

The U.S. House of Representatives this week voted unanimously to pass the Dignity in Aging Act, which reauthorizes the Older Americans Act (OAA) and increases funding for vital programs that help aging Americans live independently and with dignity.

Evan Shulman, national Director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Division of Nursing Homes, offered a Regulatory Update during this week’s LeadingAge national conference in San Diego.  Here are a few highlights from his Oct. 29 remarks:  

Social isolation is a growing epidemic among older adults. Nearly half of older adults feel isolated, alone or left out, and seniors who experience social isolation face a 29% increased risk of mortality. U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) is addressing this challenge by introducing legislation to counter the detrimental and physical effects of social isolation among seniors. 

Get the latest news on federal regulation and legislation on this week’s Capitol Insights Call hosted by LeadingAge. Sign up here for the Thursday, Oct. 24 call that begins a 1 p.m. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a pair of administrative memos related to State Survey Agencies’ performance in the survey process: Admin Info: 20-01-ALL details results from the State Performance Standards System (SPSS) for FY 2016 – 2018, and Admin Info: 20-02-ALL announces revisions to the FY 2020 SPSS Guidance.  

In late September, Congress passed a continuing resolution that funds federal programs through Nov. 21. This means there is much work to be done when Congress returns from recess this month. LeadingAge has provided a Federal Policy Update on issues that matter most to you and will cover key issues on its Capitol Hill Insights call on Oct. 24.  

A federal judge last week issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Public Charge final rule that would have allowed the government to base green card decisions on whether an immigrant could be later seen as a financial burden on taxpayers.  

With seven weeks to go until the effective date of the Phase 3 requirements for care centers, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has not finalized its proposed rule (“Regulatory Provisions to Promote Efficiency and Transparency”) published July 18 that would delay implementation of certain Phase 3 requirements and lighten other existing regulatory burdens for settings.