The Lead May 4, 2021 - LeadingAge Illinois

Supportive Living:
MMAI-Expansion

Nursing and Rehabilitation:
Changes coming to COVID-19 vaccine reporting module on NHSN

Independent/Subsidized Housing:
FCC Announces May 12 Launch Date for Emergency Broadband Benefit Program
HUD Notifies Owners, Provides Resources on Inspection Restart

Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS):
LeadingAge Collaborates with the Home Care Association of America on an Article Highlighting the IMAGINE Initiative
Trust for America’s Health Releases New Report on Homebound Vaccination

Other:
IDPH Lab System Downtime

Top Stories:

From the Desk of Karen Messer, President and CEO
The LeadingAge National Annual Awards honor individuals that embody excellence in mission-focused aging services leadership, are models of quality and innovation, and are making outstanding contributions to our field that merit national recognition. Nominations are currently being accepted in three categories: Award of Honor, RWJF Award for Health Equity presented by LeadingAge, and Joan Anne McHugh Award for Leadership in LTSS Nursing. The deadline to submit your nomination is June 18, 2021. Learn more about the award criteria and nomination process.

Legislative Update
We have now entered the final month of the Spring Legislative Session of the 102^nd Illinois General Assembly. There is a lot of activity heading into the final month and we want to keep you updated.

SB272:
On Friday, LeadingAge Illinois President and CEO, Karen Messer, testified for the three associations in opposition to this Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) initiative in the Senate Appropriations Health Committee Hearing. This legislation would require routine water culture sampling at the provider’s expense, have a fee schedule for the program, and institute penalties and fines for noncompliance. LeadingAge Illinois has expressed the following concerns to legislators, the Department, and in the hearing:

Routine water sampling is very costly, so unless there is funding to help with this cost it would be just another added expense for providers who are already struggling due to COVID and traditional funding issues before the pandemic.
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services does not require water cultures for Legionella or other opportunistic water borne pathogens. Testing protocols are at the discretion of the provider. Further, experts do not recommend surveillance testing.
We are also concerned that facilities could be fined multiple times on this issue. Here is an example: Legionella is found in the water system and a resident becomes ill. The facility could receive a civil violation, IDPH fines, and could also be charged with a Type A violation for risk of death or serious mental or physical harm to a resident. OSHA also regulates all businesses to make sure businesses provide safe workplaces. If your company doesn’t have safe water management practices, you can be fined by OSHA under their General Duty Clause.
We feel that local and state government should be consultative with providers, not punitive, in routine sampling of the water and inform providers of any pathogens in the water as well as help with rectifying identified issues.

This legislation has been re-referred to Senate Rules Committee, but we are monitoring amendments for this language.

SB374:
This bill was also re-referred to Senate Rules, but was a part of the Senate Appropriations Health Committee Hearing on Friday as well. LeadingAge Illinois supported this legislation, as introduced in the hearing. It would require the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) to increase reimbursement rates to facilities licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act on January 1 of 2022 through 2025 to a level that is sufficient to pay wages of not less than the State minimum wage rates in effect on each of those dates.

SB1096:
This bill now has the amendment with language that adds assisted living and supportive living to the requirement that insurance companies cover COVID testing for employees. Nursing home workers are covered under a bill that passed in the Lame Duck session in January. We worked to add assisted and supportive living. We are neutral on this bill, however, as there is a sunset date included of January 1, 2022. This bill is the result of negotiations with legislators, the associations, and insurance industry.

SB2137:
This AARP initiative on social isolation in nursing homes passed the Senate 53-0 on April 29. LeadingAge Illinois has met with AARP, Senate staff, and the other associations on this legislation throughout session. After meetings with AARP, language we had concerns with, such as requiring facilities to comply as a condition of licensure, was taken out in an amendment. We have been neutral throughout session, but supported Senate Amendment #2 recently in committee.

If you have any questions on the above mentioned legislation or any other bill, contact Jason Speaks. You can also visit our Advocacy Center for more information on these bills and more.

Vaccine Confidence Funding Applications Due May 5
May 5 at 11 a.m.is the deadline to apply for a $100,000 grant from Community Catalyst to increase partnerships in community-based organizations that will help support vaccine access. Approximately 75 community based organizations led by and working with communities of color will be funded through this grant opportunity. The application information is here.

LeadingAge Weekly Recap
LeadingAge National has put together a recap of last week’s activities on a number of items.

Supportive Living:

MMAI Expansion:
The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) issued a provider notice on MMAI expansion scheduled for July 1. Click here to read the notice. Blue Cross Health Plans also shared with us their webinars on the expansion. Click here for more information.

Nursing and Rehabilitation:

Changes Coming to COVID-19 Vaccine Reporting Module on NHSN
The CDC shared this week that they will be making a few changes to the COVID-19 vaccine reporting module on NHSN. Changes are being made on a few data elements to streamline reporting and provide greater clarification around requested data. Recall that this reporting is currently optional; however, based on CMS “strongly encouraging” reporting through this module and the recently proposed FY 2022 SNF PPS rule that includes a proposed SNF QRP measure on COVID-19 vaccination rates among staff, LeadingAge will be keeping an eye out for a switch from optional to mandatory reporting. Updated Tables of Instructions and FAQs on this reporting module will be released next week and NHSN will hold a training on Tuesday, May 11 at 2:30 pm CST. Registration has not yet opened but will be posted here, along with the above-mentioned documents. A recording of the May 11 training will be available at the same link following the training.

Independent/Subsidized Housing:

FCC Announces May 12 Launch Date for Emergency Broadband Benefit Program
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced a May 12 launch date for the new Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program. Eligible households will be able to enroll in the program to receive a monthly discount off the cost of broadband service from an approved internet service provider; the EBB also enables households to receive a one-time discount off a connected device, but less than 10% of the participating internet service providers are currently offering hardware. Eligible households can enroll through an approved provider or by clicking here. More info here or reach out to Juliana Bilowich at National with questions about best applying the benefit to affordable housing communities.

HUD Notifies Owners, Provides Resources on Inspection Restart
As HUD significantly increases physical inspections beginning June 1, the agency has notified owners who can expect an inspection this calendar year. HUD will not require inspectors to be vaccinated, but will require the inspectors to follow CDC guidelines for quarantining and testing if unvaccinated. Properties will receive both a 28-day and a 14-day notice, and HUD will require inspectors to wear face shields when inspecting senior housing properties. LeadingAge has a summary of the new protocol which is available here, along with a flyer for residents and an FAQ document.

Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS):

LeadingAge Collaborates with the Home Care Association of America on an Article Highlighting the IMAGINE Initiative
LeadingAge contributed information about our IMAGINE Initiative for the Home Care Association of America’s (HCAOA) members Spring 2021 magazine, The Voice. The article “IMAGINE Initiative: Will Allow Foreign-Born Workers to Meet the Growing Care Needs of a Rapidly Aging America” provides an overview of the IMAGINE policy recommendations to Congress, efforts to influence immigration bills with the Biden Administration and how HCAOA members can help this initiative. You can access the article here.

Trust For America’s Health Releases New Report on Homebound Vaccination
Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccines for Older Adults and People with Disabilities Who are Homebound, recommends actions that federal, state, and local government, state and local health agencies, the healthcare sector and community partners should take to ensure that people who are homebound are vaccinated. The report is an outgrowth of two national expert convenings hosted by Trust for America’s Health. Funding for the report and convenings was provided by The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Cambia Health Foundation. LeadingAge participated in the expert convenings.

Other:

IDPH Lab System Downtime
Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), Division of Laboratories, would like to inform all providers that our Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) will be down for a critical upgrade starting at noon on Friday, May 7, 2021 through Sunday, May 9, 2021. This outage will impact the Electronic Test Ordering and Reporting System (ETOR) as well. ETOR will be unavailable for use during the same timeframe. LIMS and ETOR functionality will be fully restored and laboratories will be able to accept specimens on Monday, May 10 when they return to normal operations.