The Lead August 13, 2020 - LeadingAge Illinois

The Lead, August 13, 2020

Nursing/Rehabilitation:
NHSN Changes and PBJ Data Submissions

Assisted Living:
Argentum Senior Living Insights Webinar Series

Supportive Living:
Reopening Plan for Supportive Living Program Providers

Independent Affordable/Subsidized Housing:
LeadingAge Illinois HUD Member Regional Conference Calls
HUD Announces October Restart of Physical Inspections
Governor Launches Emergency Rental Assistance Program

Independent/Market Rate Housing:
Harvard Releases Research on Housing America’s Older Adults

Home Health and Hospice:
Web-Based Course on Hospice QRP Education and Training Resources

Home and Community-Based Services:
Be a Speaker at the Illinois Private Duty Symposium

Other:
Resource for Gloves
Personal Protective Equipment Update
HHS Announces New Rural Health Model
Help the LeadingAge Illinois PAC Reach the 2020 Goal

Education:
QIO Program Weekly Webinar Series

Top Stories:

IDPH Releases Reopening Interim Guidance – Effective Tomorrow
On Friday, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) released updated interim guidance for a phased-in reopening for Long Term Care Facilities on August 12, which include skilled nursing care facilities, assisted living, sheltered care, supportive living and life plan communities. The guidance amends the initial interim guidance that was released on August 7.

The guidance addresses indoor and outdoor visitation, beauty salons, group activities, communal dining, and trips outside of the building. The guidance is effective tomorrow (August 14). IDPH held a webinar on Tuesday to explain the guidance and offer an opportunity for Q&A. Due to high demand, a second webinar is set for today from 3:45-4:30 p.m. CST. Click here to register. If you are unable to get into the webinar, contact Michael Moore at IDPH.

On Tuesday’s webinar, Dr. Avery Hart, infection control clinical consultant for IDPH led the presentation and likely will today. Others from IDPH taking part in the call were Allison Nickrent, Deb Burdsall, Angela Tang and Karen Trimberger. “We have heard many stories about families and residents and the heartbreaking inability to visit,” said Dr. Hart regarding considerations that went into preparing the reopening guidance. “It is improving since we introduced outdoor visits in June, but there are still restrictions. Those factors also weighed in decision making.”

Webinar Materials:

Provider Relief Fund Updates
We have a couple important updates today regarding provider relief funds.

Next $5 billion Nursing Home Distribution:
HHS told LeadingAge yesterday that they have not finalized how they will be distributing these funds to nursing homes. There will be $2.5 billion going out as an initial payment, but we are not sure what factors will be used to determine how much a nursing home receives. The same is true for the additional performance-based payment incentives. They will look at what is happening in the community and how it compares to the nursing home’s performance in minimizing COVID spread and deaths. We will send updates as we receive them.

Provider Relief Fund Application Process Open for Medicaid and many Medicare providers.
HHS has changed how it refers to some of the payments under Provider Relief. They are now referring to Phase I of General Distribution as the payments that went to Medicare providers in April. Phase II – General Distribution is what is happening right now through the application process.

HHS updated their FAQs with new information including an expanded list of who is eligible to apply for the Phase II funds. This process is open to the following Medicare providers:

Medicare providers who missed the June 3 deadline to apply for second payment by submitting their federal tax return and revenue loss information
Medicare providers who’ve experienced a Change in Ownership in 2019 or 2020 under Medicare Part A & received no Medicare FFS in 2019.
Medicare providers whose total General Distribution payments are not equal to 2% of their annual patient service revenue – NEW
Medicare providers who previously rejected General Distribution payments and want to reapply – NEW

HHS noted in their FAQs that providers who are part of organizations that received a Phase I – General Distribution payment are no longer prohibited from applying for funds under Phase II. This opens the door for some Medicaid providers who have not yet seen provider relief fund dollars to apply. All providers who seek funds under Phase II must apply through the Provider Relief Fund Application and Attestation portal by August 28.

HHS Webinar:
HHS is hosting a webinar on how to apply for the distributions for both Medicare and Medicaid providers TODAY at 2 p.m. CST. Register here.

Last Call – Data Collection for Private Pay Assisted Living, Nursing Homes, and Adult Day:
Nicole Fallon of LeadingAge is submitting a list of private pay assisted living, nursing homes and adult day providers to HHS tomorrow. If there are members who have still not provided their data but would like to be included, they can submit their data no later than 1 p.m. CST tomorrow to Nicole using this template.

IDPH Schedules August COVID-19 Webinars
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is hosting webinars to provide COVID-19 updates and answer questions from long-term care and congregate residential settings.

Here’s the schedule for August:

Webinar attendance is limited. If you cannot register or get in, email Michael Moore.

IDPH will be recording the webinars and sending out the links of the recordings.

CLA Tool Helps Track COVID-19 Economic Relief Expenses
CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP) has an innovative tracking tool to help health care organizations record COVID-19 economic relief spending. Now, organizations can arrange spending in accordance with the compliance and reporting initiatives.

Governor’s Weekly COVID Press Briefing Recap
Governor Pritzker gave his weekly COVID-19 Press Briefing yesterday at 2:30 p.m. He currently provides the update at least once per week and will provide more if needed. The Wednesday briefing was dedicated to the economy and a new small business grant program. As usual, it included COVID-19 data for Illinois and where we are trending.

Cases (as of August 12):

Daily case counts continue to increase.
1,645 new cases (198,593 total)
16 new deaths (7,672 total)
The 11 regions are all trending in different directions, with the majority in the negative.

Testing (as of August 12):

Positivity rates statewide continue to rise.
Over 42,000 tests in last 24 hours
Over 3.1 million tests performed to date

Hospitalizations (as of August 12):

Hospitalizations began to decrease in May, but have been increasing since July.
1,525 in hospital
357 in ICU
129 on ventilators

Testing Update
In a Tuesday evening press conference, President Trump reported that the United States leads the world in COVID testing with 66 million tests performed. The second highest country is India with 24 million. Illinois has completed over 3.1 million and is nearing 200,000 positive cases. Trump indicated that by the end of September, all 15,000 nursing homes will receive the point-of-care antigen testing machines. In addition to the testing machines, to ease the burden on testing, the federal government is allocating $5 billion to be distributed to nursing homes, based on certain conditions.

HHS also released the testing plan for all states recently. You can view Illinois’ here. Each state plan is required to include details of critical parameters for state testing strategies, including target numbers of tests per month, as outlined in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases (ELC).

Testing was discussed in this week’s IDPH Reopening Interim Guidance webinar. Dr. Avery Hart, infection control clinical consultant provided updates and recommendations on testing. He said that testing visitors is not part of the plan at this time. However, facilities can choose to test visitors as long as there is no charge. Another issue brought up was some insurance company denials of employee testing claims. Hart said that is a “very big area of concern” for facilities, IDPH and HFS. The departments are engaged in active discussions on this topic. LeadingAge Illinois brought this issue to the table in the last few meetings the agencies and associations. We continue to press this issue with the State.

In regards to facility testing plans, for assisted and supportive living, the requirements are not as strict at this time, although they could be in the future according to Dr. Hart. These communities are to do testing during an outbreak and it is recommended, although optional, to do the other parts of the testing program.

We will keep you updated on testing in upcoming editions of The Lead.

Testing Resources
We continue to track resources for testing to provide to our members. We will keep you updated on legitimate information we receive. Here is a look at some of the information and resources we have gathered to date (we will keep a running list updated in the newsletter):

Acutis Diagnostics Inc.
Paul Jaskowiak
Sales Specialist
219.508.6206 (Cell)
844.522.8847 (Support)
631.532.1680 (Fax)
Provides testing, supplies and results

Aegis Sciences Corporation
Brent Branneman
800.533.7052
Provides testing, packaging and results ($100 each test)

LabCorp
Indianapolis, Indiana
Services Offered: PCR testing, Courier services
Email

Mayo Clinic Labs
800-533-1710
E-Mail

Reditus
Pekin, Illinois
Phone: 469.498.0222
Services Offered: PCR Testing and courier services available

StarLab Corp
Richard Felicelda

Strategic Lab Partners
Products and Pricing
Order Form
Does not include lab processing.

Tempus
Chicago, Illinois
Services Offered: PCR testing, Shipping is available to and from the sites
Phone: 833.514.4187
Email

Nursing/Rehabilitation:

NHSN Changes and PBJ Data Submissions
NHSN has updated the data elements on testing in the COVID-19 module. The module now asks about ability to perform or obtain resources to perform testing, barriers to testing, turn-around times for test results, and whether you’ve completed facility-wide testing and why.

NHSN is collecting this data to help better understand testing and barriers to testing. Be sure to review the Table of Instructions. Also don’t forget PBJ data submissions for April – June 2020 are due tomorrow. While PBJ data submissions were previously suspended under an 1135 waiver, this waiver was terminated effective June 25. Providers must submit PBJ data for Q2 by August 14. Providers are also encouraged to submit data for Q1, but Q1 data is not required.

Assisted Living:

Argentum Senior Living Insights Webinar Series
Argentum’s webinar series features conversations with top experts and thought leaders designed to offer valuable tips, key takeaways, and relevant strategies. Dive into topics on the latest trends and critical issues impacting you and your company. Click here for more information on upcoming webinars.

Supportive Living:

Reopening Plan for Supportive Living Program Providers
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has released interim reopening guidance for all long term care providers in response to the COVID-19 emergency. This guidance applies to Supportive Living Program (SLP) providers. The August 12 guidance amends the initial interim guidance that was released on August 7.

The guidance details requirements for easing COVID-19 restrictions using a phased approach. Progression (or regression) through the phases will depend on the SLP provider’s ability to meet certain eligibility criteria. Before advancing through the phases SLP providers will be required to develop a testing plan and response strategy. SLP providers are encouraged to use the guidance found in the links below to assist you in the development of the testing plan and response strategy.

The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) will be scheduling a webinar regarding the reopening plan to assist you in answering your questions and concerns. A Provider Notice will be posted this week with more details.

Additional Reference Guidance:

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): Nursing Home Reopening Recommendations for State and Local Officials
Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH): Long-Term Care COVID-19 Testing Requirements.

Independent Affordable/Subsidized Housing:

LeadingAge Illinois HUD Member Regional Conference Calls
The next monthly LeadingAge Illinois HUD Member Conference Calls is set for Thursday, August 20 from 12-1 p.m. The monthly calls take place every third Thursday each month and include members and staff from Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Missouri. The calls feature important updates from Linda Couch, vice president of housing policy and Juliana Bilowich, director, housing operations and policy at LeadingAge, Washington, D.C. To RSVP, contact Jason Speaks.

HUD Announces October Restart of Physical Inspections
On August 7, HUD announced that the agency will resume Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) inspections of HUD multifamily and public housing properties in early October. HUD had halted physical inspections on March 13 due to health concerns; the agency said it will utilize strict safety protocols to restart operations. According to HUD’s press release, standard 14-day physical inspection notifications to owners will resume no earlier than September 21, with the first inspections resuming on or about Monday, October 5. Inspections will be prioritized based on a state or locality’s COVID-19 rates, as well as on the property’s previous scores. More information will be available here.

Governor Launches Emergency Rental Assistance Program
Governor Pritzker announced at a press conference Monday morning, a new Emergency Rental Assistance Program.

The program will be administered by the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA). The IHDA Executive Director Kristin Faust attended the announcement along with Senator Cristina Castro (D-22nd District; Elgin), Senator Elgie R. Sims, Jr. (D-17th District; Chicago), State Representative Marcus Evans, Jr. (D-33rd District; Chicago), and State Representative Nicholas Smith (D-34th District; Chicago). The event was held at Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago.

The Governor said that the State has $300 million ($150 million each for rental and mortgage assistance) to help 40,000 households through the pandemic. “I’m incredible proud that even in touch financial times for the state, we used our federal resources to build the largest pandemic housing stability program of any state in the nation,” said Pritzker. The Governor and Senator Castro each said they will advocate for more federal assistance.

Illinois has the largest pandemic housing stability program of any state in the nation with the federal resources provided. Director Faust stated that $100 million of the funds will be set aside for over 170 disproportionately impacted areas across the state, hit by the pandemic with a higher average rate of COVID cases.

The rental assistance program will support Illinois tenants unable to pay rent due to loss of income during pandemic. The IHDA will provide a one-time grant of $5,000 paid directly to landlords to cover missed rent March-December, 2020 or until $5,000 has been exhausted. Renters can apply now and the application deadline is August 21. It could close sooner if there is massive interest.

The federal government also recently announced support for renters and homeowners with the President’s Executive Order on Fighting the Spread of COVID-19 by Providing Assistance to Renters and Homeowners. The order replaces the moratorium on evictions that expired with a directive to the CDC and the Secretary of HHS to “consider whether any measures temporarily halting evictions of tenants for failure to pay rent are reasonably necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19 from one State to another.” The Secretaries of Treasury and HUD are directed to identify federal funds to provide temporary assistance to renters and may include providing assistance to landlords including affordable housing owners and public housing authorities. There is no timeline on implementing the order.

Independent/Market Rate Housing:

Harvard Releases Research on Housing America’s Older Adults
The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University released a research report titled “Housing America’s Older Adults” which details the housing need data for adults ages 50 and over. LeadingAge Illinois attended a roundtable recently on Housing and Aging-in-Community where data from the report was discussed. The seven chapters of the report include: Demographics of an Aging America, Housing and Financial Security, Accessibility Needs and the Existing Stock, Social Connection and Community Support, Linking Housing and Long-Term Supports and Services and Housing for an Aging Society.

Home Health and Hospice:

Web-Based Course on Hospice QRP Education and Training Resources
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides a web-based training course for hospices wanting a resource to the many trainings offered related to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP).

The goal is to assist hospice staff to better determine and access those trainings and documents that meet their learning needs. This course is designed to provide a general overview of the HQRP and direct learners to a variety of hotlinks and resources from the HQRP website and especially the Education and Training Library webpage to access specific information by topic.

Navigate to the HQRP Training and Education Library webpage to access the Web-Based Course on Hospice QRP Education and Training Resources by Topic with Hotlinks for Easy Access.

Home and Community-Based Services:

Be a Speaker at the Illinois Private Duty Symposium
Co-sponsored by LeadingAge Illinois, the Illinois HomeCare & Hospice Council, and the Illinois Chapter of the Home Care Association of America, the 7^th Annual Private Duty Symposium is one of the industry’s premier events in Illinois. Over 200 home care owners, administrators and clinical staff from across the state attend this educational and networking seminar each year. We are are seeking presentations that enable participants to share with and learn from one another.

To create a rich, engaging learning experience, sessions should incorporate interactive educational methods, provide replicable hands-on knowledge, and demonstrate measurable outcomes/results. The event will be presented in a virtual format. We are currently accepting speaker submissions through Friday, September 18. Click here to submit a proposal.

Other:
Personal Protective Equipment Update
The LeadingAge Illinois and Value First team continue to work to keep you updated on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and items needed for the reopening phases in your communities. We encourage you to continue to work with your trusted food, medical, and janitorial distributors for your supply needs. However, we are also aware our “normal” channels may still be working to catch up with demands and realize that allocations are still in place. The following vendors have all been vetted for your use. See this letter from LeadingAge Illinois/Value First.

Resources for Gloves
A number of members have informed LeadingAge Illinois/Value First that they are looking for gloves. Your Value First team has vetted and found a source for vinyl exam gloves ($7.25 per box of 100; all sizes) that are in stock and available for immediate shipping. This offer is available to all LeadingAge members. Members with interest can contact Terry Romin, group purchasing advisor for LeadingAge Illinois/Value First who will make the introduction to the supplier once you contact her and to help flag you as priority for service from this supplier.

HHS Announces New Rural Health Model
HHS announced the Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART) model yesterday to build upon the President’s Medicare Executive Order from last year and CMS’s Rethinking Rural Health Initiative. It includes a Community Transformation Track, which will provide seed money to up to a total of $75 million to 15 rural communities who will be selected by CMS in September; and an Accountable Care Organization Transformation Track that is a two-sided risk model that builds upon the ACO Investment Model (AIM). Applications for the ACO Transformation model will be available in Spring 2021. We will have more details as we get them and report them in The Lead.

Help the LeadingAge Illinois PAC Reach the 2020 Goal
It is imperative that we participate in the political process and ensure LeadingAge Illinois always has a seat at the table when legislative decisions that impact providers and the residents they serve are being negotiated. One way to ensure that access is through your support of the LeadingAge Illinois PAC.

We are excited to announce that the PAC received a $25,000 contribution from Argentum recently to support legislators that are supportive of protecting the social model of assisted living and maintaining the intent of the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act during this unprecedented time. As a part of Argentum’s contribution, they have challenged our members to match the $25,000 to make the PAC even stronger. Your contribution can help us meet that goal.

How you can support the PAC:

Contribute Online. An easy and speedy way the send your contribution right now with a credit card.
Become a Chair’s Circle Member. Along with maintaining a sound presence for the PAC, a $500 Chair’s Circle contribution has other benefits including special recognition at LeadingAge Illinois events as well as making our PAC the strongest ever. The contribution can be made at once or throughout the remainder of 2020.

Thanks in advance for your support of the LeadingAge Illinois PAC!

QIO Program Weekly Webinar Series
Through the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) hosts a weekly webinar series (every Thursday, 3-4 pm) to provide training for infection control processes in nursing homes. Register for and view past webinars here.