Lead May 26, 2022

From the Desk of Angela Schnepf, President and CEO
The CDC strengthened recommendations for second boosters last week. Individuals over age 50 are now required to have a second booster to be considered “up to date” if their first booster was more than four months ago. Find out what this means for nursing homes here. CMS Replaced the term “vaccinated” with “Up-to-date with all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses” and deleted the term “unvaccinated.” “Up-to-Date” means a person has received all recommended COVID-19 vaccines, including any booster dose(s) when eligible. They also updated the recommendations for testing individuals within 90 days after recovering from COVID-19. LeadingAge Illinois is meeting with the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to see how this impacts the Executive Order.

Training on NHSN Changes
The CDC hosted two webinars last week on the forthcoming changes to nursing home reporting in NHSN. Changes are scheduled for May 30. Read more here. Initially, changes were expected in both the COVID-19 vaccination reporting module as well as the long-term care facility COVID-19 module; however, training on the LTCF module has been postponed and CDC was unable to confirm whether these changes would proceed as scheduled.

Housing:

LeadingAge Affordable Housing Insurance Call
Join LeadingAge for a solutions-oriented discussion with HUD, insurance brokers, and housing providers on rising property insurance rates in HUD-assisted housing. In the second quarterly insurance-focused call, they will discuss challenges with coverage, premiums, and deductibles in affordable senior housing, and explore operational and policy-related approaches to reducing and managing costs. Register here.

Home and Community Based Services (HCBS):

DoA Staff Update
Sandy Pastore will now serve as the new Division Manager for the Division of Home and Community Services at the Illinois Department on Aging (DoA), effective June 16. Sandy has over 20 years of experience in the Aging field, including serving as the Executive Director of the Oswego Senior Center, working for Oak Park Township Senior Services on APS cases, case management related activities, as well as HDM service provision. She sits on both state and national advisory councils, including the Older Adult Services Advisory Committee, CCPAC, and the State Plan Development Committee. She has a specialized focus on workforce related issues in the Aging field including the development and integration of gerontology education in K-12 schools. Most recently Sandy has served as a Health and Aging Policy Organizer for the Health and Medicine Policy Research Group.

Home Health Notice of Admissions (NOA) Updated Before Final Implementation
LeadingAge posted an article with updates on issues with the new home health Notice of Admissions (NOA) process by error code and Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC). This process was fully implemented as of May 23, 2022.

Other:

Take Part in the Partners in Quality Campaign
With legislators back home in their districts, now is the time, if safe and appropriate, to invite your legislators in for a visit to your community. The benefits are endless for showing legislators quality, firsthand. This makes a big impact during the legislative session. If you are interested in hosting your federal or state legislators, contact Jason Speaks.