News

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. 

How are Trump Administration policies likely to affect the social safety net for older Americans? Twelve articles in a recently published special issue of the Journal of Aging and Social Policy offer a variety of responses to that question, including articles authored by Robyn Stone and Marc Cohen, co-directors of the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston. 

Leadingage President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan has responded to concerns raised by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), a ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, on whether seniors and their families have accurate and complete information about the quality of nursing homes. 

After a year of collecting stakeholder input, the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means has issued the Medicare Red Tape Relief report.  

The U.S.  Housing & Urban Development Department (HUD) has suspended use of the CNA e-Tool for PRAC budgeting purposes. Until further notice, PRAC projects needing to submit a rent increase should follow previous guidance in HUD Handbook 4350.1, Chapter 7: Processing Budgeted Rent Increases. 

The U.S.  Housing & Urban Development Department (HUD) has released three new Service Coordination resources and tools: 

In finalizing its proposal to implement the new Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) effective Oct. 1, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is sending a strong signal - it is time for change. In a new blog post, Brian Ellsworth, Vice President of Public Policy & Payment Transformation at Health Dimensions Group, shares what has changed, what is staying the same and what providers can do to prepare. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will host a Special Open Door Forum on Wednesday, Aug. 15 to educate opioid prescribers on federal resources and strategies to combat the opioid epidemic. 

New bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow qualified physician group practices to furnish telehealth services in skilled nursing facilities under the Medicare program. 

During her recent keynote address at the Adult Day Conference, Ruth Katz, Senior Vice President of Public Policy/Advocacy or LeadingAge, discussed the importance of strengthening the data story for Adult Day Services. Adult day members can now shape that story by participating in a national study. 

In a proposed rule released for public inspection this week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) aims to make changes to a 2016 final rule that requires the electronic reporting of work-related injury and illness data.  

To facilitate timely passage of 2019 spending bills and avoid a government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1, the U.S. House and Senate are combining multiple individual spending bills into larger legislative packages.