The Lead September 4 2025 - LeadingAge Illinois

Matt Riehle, CEO of Westminster Village, residents, and staff hosted State Representative Sharon Chung (D-91st District; Bloomington) for a visit last week. It was the second time the representative has visited the community and this visit gave her a chance to meet and greet those at the community and learn more about aging services. Matt, a LeadingAge Illinois board member, has long been a leader in the association’s Partners in Quality program, hosting legislators and attending Capitol visits in Springfield and D.C.

Help Set the 2026 LeadingAge Illinois Legislative Priorities

The last three legislative sessions have been the most successful in association history. We have held off burdensome legislation while also passing important measures from our member-driven legislative agenda.

It is now time to plan for the 2026 session of the Illinois General Assembly, which begins in January. Help us set our 2026 agenda by taking part in one or more of the below forums. Come with any ideas or feedback on challenges you are facing. Our goal is developing solutions to those challenges.

We are making it simple. To register, simply email Jason Speaks at jspeaks@leadingageil.org with the RSVP for the forum date you would like to attend. You will then receive a calendar invitation for the virtual meeting. (Example: Subject: RSVP September 9 Assisted Living Forum).

Legislative Priorities Member Forums:

Assisted Living
September 9
10:00 – 11:30 am

Life Plan Communities/ CCRCs
September 16
2:00 – 3:30 pm

Nursing Homes
September 23
10:00 – 11:30 am

Housing
October 7
10:00 – 11:30 am

Home and Community Based Services
October 21
10:00 – 11:30 am

LeadingAge Illinois Bi-Weekly Member Call

We are excited to invite you to our bi-weekly member call, open to all members! This is a great opportunity to stay informed on the latest legislative developments and education updates, as well as engage with our featured guest speakers.

Mark your calendars!
Every other Friday from 9:00 – 10:00 AM
Next Zoom is September 12

Meeting Highlights:

Legislative Updates: Learn about the most recent legislative changes that may impact our community from our Public Policy Team.
Education Updates: Stay up-to-date with the latest education offerings.
Featured Guests: Special guests will join us to share their expertise and insights on key topics.

This event is free and open to all members—we encourage you to join, participate, and connect with fellow members and LeadingAge Illinois staff.

RSVP Here.

We look forward to seeing you on Zoom!

LeadingAge Illinois Attends Congressional Meeting on OBBB Cuts

U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski hosted a meeting with associations and advocates on Saturday, August 23 in Champaign to discuss the cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). The representative outlined what the bill contained and took feedback on concerns with the cuts within. She and staff pledged to follow up with additional details and plans for stopping any threats to long term care.

Upcoming IDPH Webinar & Trainings

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced the following upcoming webinar. Registration is required and attendance is limited. If you’re unable to attend, email Michael.moore@illinois.gov as the webinar will be recorded and can be distributed following the event.

Multidrug- Resistant Organism (MDRO) and Denial of Admission on September 17 from 1-2 p.m.

IDPH Office of Preparedness and Response (OPR) in conjunction with Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service is hosting Cybersecurity Risk Awareness for Officials and Senior Management on November 4, 2025, from 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. at the IDPH Training Room/PHEOC in Springfield. You can learn more or register here.

The Illinois Weather and Public Health Response Summit 2025 is scheduled for November 12 – 13, 2025, at the Student Center West, University of Illinois Chicago. This summit focuses on addressing the health impacts of adverse weather events and strategies for preparedness and response. You can learn more and register here.

The IDPH OPR, in conjunction with Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service is hosting a Cybersecurity Vulnerability Assessment on November 5 & 6 from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the IDPH Training Room/PHEOC in Springfield. This training is designed to address specific technical and professional skills necessary to assess, document, remediate, and report on cybersecurity vulnerability assessments within organizations through a series of lectures and hands on activities. You can learn more and register here.

Send us your MCO Issues

LeadingAge Illinois is working with the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) and the MCOs to resolve MCO billing issues. If you have a pattern of claims issues (not single claims) that you have not been able to resolve using the normal channels, such as working with your provider relations representative or through the use of the complaint portal, we can help by raising attention to these issues.

If you have issues, please contact Jason Speaks.

LeadingAge’s Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) Provides Technology Tools to Prevent Falls

Falls in older adults may lead to serious injuries, as aging services providers know. New technologies developed by researchers around the globe are delivering numerous fresh approaches – using virtual reality (VR), building agile robots, and applying machine learning to reduce fall risk. Learn more from the CAST team about these fall-prevention tools.

CDC Releases Influenza Vaccine Recommendations for 2025/2026 Flu Season

The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) approved recommendations for influenza vaccines for the 2025/2026 influenza season on August 28. These recommendations are amidst a controversial shake-up in which the Senate-confirmed CDC Director Susan Monarez was terminated and three CDC officials resigned after the Director refused to sign-off on ACIP recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccine which reportedly conflicted with available evidence. At this time, the influenza vaccine is recommended for all individuals over the age of six months, with high-dose or adjuvanted influenza vaccines recommended for individuals aged 65 years and older. Influenza season is considered to run October 1 – March 31 each year with vaccination recommended to occur in September or October to offer the best protection, however, vaccines may be given throughout the season to eligible individuals.

The Requirements of Participation (RoP) outline that nursing home providers must provide education and offer influenza vaccines to all residents. You can access the CDC’s Vaccine Information Statements (VIS) which can be used for education on available vaccines here. Additionally, providers must track employee influenza vaccination status and report at least once to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) by May 15, 2026.

Monthly IDPH Updates

On Thursday, August 28, the Illinois Department of Public Health Office of Health Care Regulation (IDPH OHCR) hosted their association meeting. Questions were submitted to them in advance of the meeting that were posed by members. During this meeting LeadingAge Illinois staff along with other associations spent a significant amount of time trying to advocate for answers to the recent fine letters that were sent to nursing homes on the staffing rules. Unfortunately, the department refused to answer any questions or collaboratively correct mistakes and instructed all providers who received a fine letter and believe the fine was incorrectly issued to submit an appeal. LeadingAge Illinois is working quickly and diligently to resolve this issue without undue burden on our members.

Here are the responses that IDPH provided during the meeting:

When will all assisted living providers have access to the portal?

All assisted living providers should be able to request access to the portal now. If you have not done so yet, you can register your facility or assign a registered agent by clicking the button at the top of the IDPH OHCR Portal website.

Is IDPH reviewing the guidance for COVID-19 as it requires a significantly longer period of time for isolation than the general public?

Generally, the guidance is based on national standards, but IDPH is currently reviewing their guidance. We asked for a possible timeframe, to which they responded that they would check on this and follow up with us.

We asked the department for updates on the following rules:

Continuing Care at Home (CCaH) – this is a different department outside of OHCR so they will follow up on this.

Medication Aide – they have been approved by the long-term care advisory board and are moving to the next step.

Rules based on recent legislation are being processed including assisted living incident reports, dementia, and joint provider/surveyor training.

We asked the department for updates on:

The assisted living advisory board – currently six voting members approved and awaiting review and approval for four additional members by the director. The rules require nine voting members, once that is achieved then meetings will commence.

Long-term care advisory board currently has one opening for a legal assistant/ advocate.

The incident report form for assisted living providers is currently being revised by the special investigations unit based on recent legislation.

Can the department provide updates on the backlog of licensure?

The department indicated they are currently caught up with licensure activities and they are continuing to answer phone calls and email inquiries.

Livanta BFCC-QIO Rebranding – Updates to NOMNC Forms Needed

Effective August 18, Livanta’s Beneficiary and Family Centered Care – Quality Improvement Organization (BFCC-QIO) program was rebranded as Commence Health. Livanta’s BFCC-QIO program is currently included in your Notice of Medicare Non-Coverage (NOMNC) form that must be provided to residents/patients when Medicare coverages are ending.

What do you need to do?

Update your Medicare NOMNC form with the new name. According to Livanta’s website, all contact information will remain the same therefore the phone number you currently have on the NOMNC form will still be valid. Here is a link to Medicare’s NOMNC and Detailed Explanation of Non-Coverage (DENC) website where you can find the template notices for download.

Regulatory Review – Notice of Certain Balances & Conveyance

The next regulation in the resident’s right section of Appendix PP is F569 which requires that the nursing home notify each Medicaid resident when the amount in their account (if they deposit funds in an account with the nursing home) reaches $200 less than the resource limit for one person and that if they exceed that limit they may lose Medicaid coverage. According to the Illinois Department of Human Services, the resource limit is $17,500.

Additionally, this regulation requires that if a resident discharges or passes away, the nursing home must reimburse the resident the amount of funds deposited within 30 days of discharge along with a final accounting of those funds. If the resident passes away, the nursing home must reimburse the individual or probate jurisdiction administering the resident’s estate the amount of funds deposited into the resident’s account, in accordance with any State law.

This regulation is rarely cited for non-compliance, but during the rare event that it was cited the concern was identified during a complaint and related to the time it took to reimburse the funds that the resident deposited in the nursing home account.

New Member Resource

We are pleased to offer a new member resource entitled “Beyond the Standard”. This member resource offers ready-to-use worksheets and guidance to implement into your quality assurance processes. You can access the *NEW* Beyond the Standard website here along with the first resource for antipsychotic medications including a spreadsheet that can be used for your data driven documentation and this guidance document identifying what must be monitored to accurately determine your numerator and denominators. Please send any feedback to Kellie Van Ree, Director of Clinical Services. If you need help identifying possible action plans to reduce antipsychotic medications in your building don’t forget that we also have the Driving Quality: Navigating Healthcare webcasts available!

CMS Issues Final MDS RAI Manual for October 1

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final draft of the MDS 3.0 Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) Manual for the Minimum Data Set (MDS) version 1.20.1 which will be effective October 1, 2025. You can access the final draft of the RAI manual on the CMS MDS RAI Manual website as well as change tables and other MDS resources.

LeadingAge RAD for PRAC Webinar Series: Preserving Your Aging HUD Property

Join LeadingAge for a special mini-series on the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), a critical senior housing preservation tool administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Many affordable senior housing providers are exploring preservation options for aging PRAC properties with limited opportunities to attract recapitalization and rehabilitation investment; the September webinar series, taught by affordable housing expert Gates Kellett, reviews the basics of RAD and then dives into best practices and pitfalls to avoid. Whether you are just beginning to explore RAD or seeking to refine your approach, this insightful two-part webinar will provide valuable knowledge and practical guidance for making informed decisions and ensuring the long-term success of your housing portfolio.

Updated Home Health Advocacy Resources

LeadingAge, along with partners at the National Alliance for Care at Home, have released state by state one pagers on the impacts of the proposed Calendar Year (CY) 2026 Home Health Payment rule. You can find all of the resources including the new one pagers here.

Ask the Expert
A number of member questions come in daily to the association. In this article we will feature unique or recent questions of interest to members.

Q: Can I access guidance that surveyors use when they are in my nursing home?

A: Yes! Everything that the surveyors use is available to all providers. Here are a few key things that you may want to access:

CMS – Survey Resources (Zip File)

LeadingAge Illinois – One Pager on Critical Element Pathways

CMS – Appendix PP of the State Operations Manual

CMS – Appendix Q of the State Operations Manual – Guidelines for Immediate Jeopardy

Have a question? Email yours now.