LeadingAge Illinois eNews

The Lead March 30, 2021

Top Stories:
From the Desk of Karen Messer, President and CEO
LeadingAge Visitation Toolkit and Checklist
Expand Access to COVID-19 Vaccines and Build Vaccine Confidence
Legislative Update
LeadingAge Illinois Advocacy Center
IDPH COVID-19 Webinars for Long Term Care and Congregate Settings
Vaccine Education Resources for Staff, Residents, and Families

Assisted Living:
Urge U.S. Senators to Advocate for Senior Living Relief

Nursing and Rehabilitation:
Actions to Mitigate COVID-19 Prevalence in Nursing Homes

Independent Affordable/Subsidized Housing:
Draft Bill Circulated on Housing COVID-19 Relief
LeadingAge Letter to Hill: Housing is Infrastructure
HUD Deputy Secretary to be Nominated
Save the Date! SAGE, LeadingAge, and Hinshaw Law Host Roundtable Dialogues on Chicago’s LGBT Elder Housing Network

Home Health and Hospice:
New Medicare Learning Network Articles on Home Health and Home Infusion Billing

Top Stories:

From the Desk of Karen Messer, President and CEO:
LeadingAge has compiled updates over the last week on PACE, Home Health and Hospice, Affordable Housing, and Nursing Homes.  I encourage you to take a look at the below updates and stay updated on advocacy efforts at the national level. 

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LeadingAge Visitation Toolkit and Checklist
As CMS updated visitation guidance for nursing homes, LeadingAge collaborated with Pathway Health on a Visitation During COVID-19 Toolkit for members. The 10-segment toolkit helps an organization navigate visitation guidance through a leader’s guide, implementation checklists, competency tools for managers and all staff as well as a pre and post-test for all staff.  The toolkit can be modified or edited to your organization’s needs. The elements of the toolkit also may be used by various providers and service lines in the continuum of care.

LeadingAge also has a checklist nursing home members can use to prepare for visitation.  This checklist is drafted in accordance with CMS guidelines.  If your state uses its own guidelines beyond CMS’s, you will need to be sure to include additional elements, as appropriate.  Of course, if your organization has additional requirements, those must be accounted for as well.

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Expand Access to COVID-19 Vaccines and Build Vaccine Confidence
As part of President Biden’s continued efforts to ensure COVID-19 vaccines reach all people and all communities, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing a series of actions to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines to the hardest-hit and highest-risk communities across the country. With funding in large part from the American Rescue Plan, HHS will invest nearly $10 billion to expand access to vaccines and better serve communities of color, rural areas, low-income populations, and other underserved communities in the COVID-19 response. This funding will expand access to vaccines for vulnerable populations and increase vaccine confidence across the country. The announcements include:

  • $6 Billion Investment in Community Health Centers to Expand Access to Vaccines in Underserved Communities. For detailed information on how this funding is being distributed to health centers nationwide, including state-by-state breakdowns and an interactive health center funding map.
  • Expanding Eligibility for Vaccines to Patients Served by Community Health Centers. Community Health Centers participating in the federal Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program are invited to expand eligibility to populations in the ACIP’s 1C eligibility tier – this includes frontline essential workers and all persons 16 years and older with high-risk medical conditions.
  • $3 Billion to Strengthen Vaccine Confidence. HHS, through the CDC, will invest $3 billion to support local efforts to increase vaccine uptake and equity.
  • Launch a Partnership to Vaccinate Dialysis Patients. The Administration is announcing a new partnership with dialysis clinics to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to people receiving dialysis and health care personnel in outpatient dialysis clinics.
  • $330 Million to Invest in Community Health Workers. HHS, through CDC, will provide $300 million to jurisdictions for community health worker services to support COVID-19 prevention and control, and an additional $32 million for training, technical assistance, and evaluation.

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Legislative Update
Although the legislature is on Spring Break, there is still a lot of activity surrounding bills this session. 

HB3899 passed 24-0 out of the House Appropriations-Human Services Committee on Friday afternoon.  This is our joint legislation with the Illinois Health Care Association (IHCA).  The goal of this piece of legislation is to reform Medicaid rates in order to incentivize quality care and proper staffing within nursing homes.  Karen Messer, president and CEO of LeadingAge Illinois, was seated at the virtual table as a witness with sponsor, Rep. Anne Stava-Murray (D-81st District; Downers Grove). 

HB559 is one of about 13 bills dealing with the Biometric Information Privacy Act.  On March 9, this legislation made it out of the House Judiciary – Civil Committee by a vote of 10-5-1. LeadingAge Illinois is a part of a Coalition to develop language that would lessen the burden on members.  We will keep you updated on the progress. 

You can view information on these bills and more, on the 2021 LeadingAge Illinois Legislative Tracker, located in the Advocacy Center on our website.  If you have any questions, contact Jason Speaks. 

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LeadingAge Illinois Advocacy Center
Advocacy has always been a major strength of LeadingAge Illinois. Our Online Advocacy Center, located on the LeadingAge Illinois website, allows you to view our member driven Public Policy Priorities, track legislation, find your legislator, and access important links related to legislation and regulations. LeadingAge Illinois’ public policy team works to advance favorable legislation and defeat burdensome proposals that would impact quality and innovation in the aging services. Every session, LeadingAge Illinois tracks legislation that impact the various member settings.  Click here to access our 2021 Legislative Tracker.

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IDPH COVID-19 Webinars for Long Term Care and Congregate Settings
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) continues to hold weekly webinars on COVID-19 for Long Term Care and Congregate Settings. There are important updates and information shared on each webinar pertinent to LeadingAge Illinois member settings. There is also a Q&A during the sessions. Most webinars go from 1-2 p.m. Slides and recordings of the webinars are sent to participants afterwards and they will also appear in the Lead. 

Register for the upcoming webinars:

April 2

April 9

April 16

April 23

April 30

There are high numbers of participants on each webinar, so if you have trouble getting in, email Michael Moore at IDPH. 

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Vaccine Education Resources for Staff, Residents, and Families
In order to encourage maximum vaccination participation, we are providing you with education and resources you can use with your staff, residents, and families. We will continue to provide updated resources as we have them.

The COVID -19 vaccine is now available but vaccination, along with following the CDC’s recommendation to protect yourself and others, will offer the best protection from COVID-19 and stopping the pandemic. There are many questions regarding the vaccine and below are resources that you can share with staff, residents and families. The internet has various amounts of information regarding the vaccine; please make sure it is from a credible source.

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Assisted Living:

Urge U.S. Senators to Advocate for Senior Living Relief
We need your help again in contacting Senators Durbin and Duckworth to urge them to sign-on to abipartisan letter, led by Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Susan Collins (R-ME). The letter asks the Biden Administration to allocate remaining provider relief fund dollars to senior living providers. Click here to join this effort and send a message to our Illinois senators. Thank you for joining Argentum and LeadingAge Illinois in this important effort.

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Nursing and Rehabilitation:

Actions to Mitigate COVID-19 Prevalence in Nursing Homes
CMS updated their toolkit on state actions to mitigate COIVD-19 prevalence in nursing homes. This toolkit catalogs the many innovative solutions designed at the state level to protect our nation’s vulnerable nursing home residents during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

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Independent Affordable/Subsidized Housing:

Draft Bill Circulated on Housing COVID-19 Relief
The House Committee on Financial Services is circulating a discussion draft of the Supporting Seniors and Tenants in Subsidized Housing Act. The draft bill, a version of 2020’s Emergency Housing Assistance for Older Adults Act introduced in the House (as HR 6873) and Senate (as S 4177). The draft bill is sponsored by Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), the chair of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance. The bill, spearheaded by LeadingAge, would provide financial relief COVID-19-related expenses, including funding for new Service Coordinators, funding for the installation and service fees for building-wide wireless internet, and funding to cover an array of COVID-19 expenses amassed by HUD-assisted affordable senior housing providers. Read the article here.

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LeadingAge Letter to Hill: Housing is Infrastructure
On March 26, LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan sent a letter to housing authorizing committees on their wish-list for affordable housing within any infrastructure package. President Biden is expected to release an outline of his infrastructure proposal, Build Back Better, this week and congressional hearings have begun on the topic.

LeadingAge’s housing infrastructure priorities are:

  • $2.5 billion for new Section 202 Housing for the Elderly homes;
  • Enactment of the Broadband Justice Act to pay for the wiring, installation, and service fees for internet in all federally-subsidized housing; and,
  • $1 billion pool of capital funds, administered by HUD under a new Age-Friendly Retrofit Program, to help current and future older adult households live in independent housing for as long as they choose to do so.

See the LeadingAge article here.

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HUD Deputy Secretary to be Nominated
President Biden announced his intent to nominate Adrianne Todman, CEO of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), as Deputy Secretary of HUD. Before joining NAHRO in 2017, Todman served as the Executive Director of the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) and served in several career positions at HUD. LeadingAge applauds the nomination for the second in command position at HUD and looks forward to working with Todman on our key policy priorities once she is confirmed by the Senate.

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Save the Date! SAGE, LeadingAge, and Hinshaw Law Host Roundtable Dialogues on Chicago’s LGBT Elder Housing Network
Save the date for SAGE’s 2021 Regional Roundtable series. On May 11 and 13, SAGE, LeadingAge and Hinshaw Law will co-host an event titled “Communities of Strength: A Roundtable Dialogue on Chicago’s LGBT Elder Housing Network.” The event will discuss strategies to develop affirming housing, medical care, and aging services from Chicao’s robust network o LGBT advocates and elders. The dialogue can serve as an example for other parts of the country, and will consist of two panels: a clinincal panel on May 11 from 1-3pm CST and a housing panel on May 13 from 1-3pm CST. RSVP to attend either panel here.

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Home Health and Hospice:

New Medicare Learning Network Articles on Home Health and Home Infusion Billing
CMS issued two new Medicare Learning Network articles relevant to home health agencies. One is “Correction to Period Sequence Edits on Home Health Claims” which discusses revisions to the Common Working File (CWF) home health period sequence edits so that LUPA claims are no longer excluded. The other is an article on new changes for Medicare claims processing for home infusion services as of January 1, 2021. Both articles refer to change requests with an implementation date of July 6, 2021.

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