News

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.    

The annual update to the RAI Manual has been released and contains some substantive changes for care center members. The updates are effective Oct. 1, so members will want to review these changes and make the necessary adjustments to their coding and transmission policies and practices.   

LeadingAge recently met with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program (QRP) to help them better understand the noncompliance experience and identify process improvements to help reduce noncompliance in future years. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a proposed rule this week to relieve burden on healthcare providers by removing unnecessary, obsolete or excessively burdensome Medicare compliance requirements for healthcare facilities. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shared survey guidance relating to handwashing while assisting residents at meal time and to eye drop expiration dating. 

Will you stand up for housing funding for older adults? Congress is negotiating the differences between House and Senate versions of the fiscal year 2019 HUD appropriations bill that will determine how much funding will be available next year for affordable housing. 

The temporary protected status provided to immigrants from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti and other countries is being terminated. Many of these foreign-born people, who work in the long-term services and supports field, will face deportation.

LeadingAge recently pointed out technical barriers to skilled nursing facilities’ compliance with quality reporting required under the IMPACT Act and requested a meeting with the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to discuss solutions that would improve their ability to comply. 

Nearly half of all Americans are concerned that they will not have enough money to live on during retirement. President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order that could help expand access to workplace retirement plans for workers and extend their retirement savings. 

The U.S. Senate last week passed a combined spending bill that contains some good news in terms of Fiscal Year 2019 funding for home and community-based services.