News

In a recent call with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), LeadingAge learned that there has been a 2 percent increase in the utilization of Adult Day Services by veterans in recent years, compared to 17 percent growth in other services. To turn this around, the VA expects to roll out several initiatives to boost Adult Day Services options for veterans that include: 

The ACTION Campaign’s state fact sheets have been updated with the most recent data to show the Housing Credit’s impact and the affordable housing needs that remain in every state. New to the state fact sheets this year is data demonstrating the impact that a 50 percent increase in the Housing Credit would have in each state. 

The Lame Duck Session is underway! We need members who serve seniors in affordable housing to contact our congressional delegation this week to ensure that a final fiscal year 2019 HUD appropriations bill is enacted. 

The midterm election brought some big changes for members of Congress with jurisdiction over aging services issues, as well as a fresh outlook on what may be accomplished in the upcoming lame duck session and in the new Congress that will convene in January. 

After the RAI manual updates were released for October 2018, an errata document was posted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services website concerning J2000: Prior Surgery. In the Coding Tips on page J-35, there were three criteria for a procedure to be classified as major surgery and now there are only two criteria:   

Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Provider Preview Reports are now available for review prior to the January 2019 public display of the performance data on the Nursing Home Compare site. Corrections to the underlying data are not permitted, but providers can request a CMS review if they believe their data scores are being displayed inaccurately. Requests for review must be made by Nov. 30.  

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the addition of new data to Nursing Home Compare. The following measures have been added: 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officially published proposed changes to the public charge rule. The changes would deny entry to individuals seeking admission to the United States or adjusting their immigration status to become a permanent resident if there is any likelihood that the individual will become a public charge at any time in the future. Public comments are due by Dec. 10. 

LeadingAge will host a call with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to discuss resources for current and new Adult Day Services providers, specifically how to begin working with Veterans Affairs and how to resolve ongoing concerns. The call takes place Nov. 5 from 1 – 2 p.m.  

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) has awarded a supplemental grant for $70,000 to the National Ombudsman Resource Center (NORC) to address two critical issues in long-term care settings: involuntary discharges and opioids. 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued guidance for Housing Trust Fund (HTF) grantees and the first report on the status of initial trust fund commitments in 2016. 

The Trump Administration is considering ways to strengthen enforcement of rules that require immigrants to demonstrate that they will not take advantage of public assistance programs after entering the United States. 

LeadingAge has updated the Medicare Part A Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System (PPS) calculator and the Medicare Part B therapy rate calculator to help members assess and estimate the impact of final payment changes for FY 2019, which began on Oct. 1, 2018. 

Congress marked the beginning of fiscal year 2019 on Oct. 1 by passing the Departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, which covers many home- and community-based services programs. This was the first Labor-Health and Human Services appropriation to be enacted in over a decade. 

The Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program and Payroll-Based Journal are the featured topics of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Skilled Nursing Facilities/Long Term Care Open Door Forum this Thursday, Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. The full agenda includes: 

While Congress enacted five of the 12 appropriations bills before the Oct. 1, 2019 fiscal year, they were unable to reach agreement on the spending bill that included funding for affordable housing programs. A continuing resolution signed last week by President Trump will keep HUD and some other federal programs funded through Dec. 7. 

As we reported in August, new Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) PPS rates took effect for the year that began on Monday, Oct. 1. In addition to the updated base rates, Oct. 1 is also the first year of implementation of Value-Based Purchasing. 

A new webinar from LeadingAge national will help care center members get ready for the changes to the Minimum Data Set (MDS) that take effect Oct. 1.  

Managed care plans that contract with the federal government under Medicare or Medicaid must provide information to their enrollees about whether providers have conducted cultural competence training for their staff as well as the languages in which they can communicate. LeadingAge Minnesota members should anticipate seeing questions from their managed care plans. 

The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) will hold a Preservation of Pre-1974 Section 202 Direct Loan Properties webinar on Tuesday, Oct. 9.