The Lead April 13, 2021 - LeadingAge Illinois

Nursing and Rehabilitation:
CMS Announces Termination of Certain Waivers While 3-Day Stay Waiver Remains in Effect

Independent Affordable/Subsidized Housing:
Bringing Community Health Workers to Senior Housing

Top Stories:

From the Desk of Karen Messer, President and CEO
As we have reported previously, LeadingAge announced a comprehensive Blueprint for a Better Aging Infrastructure. I encourage you to read LeadingAge National President, Katie Smith Sloan’s letter on the Blueprint, which was sent to the congressional legislative leaders. You can also read more details here.

With gratitude,

Karen

Partners in Quality Update
Last Friday afternoon, we held our 30^th Partners in Quality Virtual Visit of 2021. Elizabeth McLaren, vice president of health services strategy, programming, and integration at Covenant Living Communities and Services and Karen Pahlke, executive director of The Holmstad, Batavia, told State Representative Dan Ugaste (R-65th District; St. Charles) the Batavia community’s experiences over the last year.

Covenant serves 5,000 residents throughout the country. They have four communities in Illinois and a home health agency. Elizabeth discussed the issues providers had at the onset of the pandemic, such as locating PPE and the high costs to obtain supplies. She also described how proud she is of the Covenant team. “The resilience of our staff and their ability to stand up and support each other and the residents was amazing to watch. I had no idea the depths our team would go to support or residents,” said Elizabeth.

Karen gave the representative, who has yet to visit the community since taking office in 2019, background on the community. The Holmstad began in 1975 on 40 acres. They have catered living, residential living, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing. She also explained the experiences of her staff and residents.

Rep. Ugaste stated that he is very aware of the Holmstad, as they have a big presence in his district. He was concerned that the allocations from the CARES Act took so long to get to providers and offered to contact the Administration if that happens with any future potential relief/recovery allocations. He also indicated he would like to be contacted by providers in his district with any specific examples of price gouging that occurred with them during the public health emergency. He committed to visiting the community in Batavia when it is safe and appropriate.

If you would like to host a virtual visit with your legislators, contact Jason Speaks.

HFS CARES Program Reporting Deadline Final Reminder
The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services has posted a new Provider Notice regarding HFS CARES Program Reporting Deadline Final Reminder. You may view the new notice here.

Weekly TANs and Medicaid Pendings Update
LeadingAge Illinois Consultant Matt Werner, Werner Consulting
LeadingAge Illinois Consultant, Matt Werner of Werner Consulting, has provided his weekly update on Transaction Audit Numbers (TANs). Click here to access the TANs report and here for an update on Medicaid pendings.

President’s Request: Health Preparedness, Vulnerable Communities
Last week, the Biden Administration released its budget request for fiscal year 2022, which signals the President’s priorities for the coming year. The request complements the Administration’s infrastructure proposal and offers a blueprint for Congress to build on the recently passed American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Read more about the plan and LeadingAge’s initial response.

LeadingAge Weekly Recap
LeadingAge National has prepared a recap of last week’s activity specific to member settings.

Nursing and Rehabilitation:

CMS Announces Termination of Certain Waivers While 3-Day Stay Waiver Remains in Effect
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a policy memo Thursday, April 8, announcing the termination of several 1135 waivers related to resident transfers, care plans, and assessments. These waivers, implemented as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency, will end on May 10, 2021. Additionally, CMS has offered details on how states may assist individuals currently employed under the nurse aide training waiver to transition to certified nurse aides.

Independent Affordable/Subsidized Housing:

Bringing Community Health Workers to Senior Housing
Can community health workers (CHW) help older adults age successfully in affordable senior housing? A new case study from the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston suggests an additional role for CHWs: helping older adults age in community. Read LeadingAge’s senior vice president of research Robyn Stone’s latest blog about bringing community health workers.