STATE NEWS
Kansas COVID-19 Cluster Summary
As of October 6th, there are 9 long-term care facilities with clusters and 2 are LeadingAge Kansas Members.
Statewide Active COVID-19 Clusters
- Clusters: 217
- Cases: 2,634
- Hospitalizations: 77
Kansas COVID-19: Case Rates
- Cases: 415,431
- Total Case Rate Per 1,000: 142.60
- Daily Cases Diagnosed: 782
Long-Term Care Facilities with Active Cluster Case Information
- Clusters: 58
- Cases: 435
- Hospitalizations: 22
Source: https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas
VACCINE NEWS
Kansas COVID-19 Vaccination Overview
- 2,959,045 Total Doses Reported as Administered
- First Dose: 1,597,678
- Second Dose: 1,309,538
- Third Dose: 51,830
- 3,660,380 Total Doses Distributed
– State Distributed: 2,275,370 - 51.9% of Kansans Vaccinated with One Dose
- 48.1% of Kansas Completed COVID-19 Vaccine Series
Source: https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/158/Data
FEDERAL NEWS
Guidance on HIPAA and COVID-19 Vaccination Status Disclosure
Since the release of vaccines last winter, we have heard concern about confirming vaccination status of employees, contractors, and visitors in different settings. We have heard concerns from nursing home members who are required to report vaccination status of any individuals providing care in the nursing home or are recommended to inquire about the vaccination status of visitors to the nursing home. HHS has released guidance to clarify when and why requesting disclosure of COVID-19 vaccination status is NOT a HIPAA violation. Check out this guidance here. We note that this guidance applies only to the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
HHS Issue Guidance on HIPAA and Vaccines in the Workplace.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) recently issued guidance to help the public understand when the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule applies to disclosures and requests for information about whether a person has received a COVID-19 vaccine. The guidance reminds the public that the HIPAA Privacy Rule does not apply to employers or employment records. This is because the HIPAA Privacy Rule only applies to HIPAA covered entities (health plans, health care clearinghouses, and health care providers that conduct standard electronic transactions), and, in some cases, to their business associates. The guidance, HIPAA, COVID-19 Vaccination, and the Workplace, covers many concerns about asking employees about vaccination status and disclosing information about vaccination status that employers are struggling with during the pandemic.
$500M in American Rescue Plan (ARP) Fund Available for Rural Healthcare, Applications due October 12th
In the middle of August, the Administration announced not only vaccine mandates for health care on the horizon but also this opportunity for funding for rural American in the Federal Register announcement of the availability of $500M in COVID-19 ARP funds available for rural health care.
- Eligible entities include government entities and government owned entities; non-profits and total/urban consortiums; and tribes.
- There are two tracks of funds to apply for:
Track 1 – Recovery Grants – provide immediate relief to address the economic conditions arising from the COVID-19 emergency such as expanding access to COVID-19 vaccines and testing, health care services including telehealth and food assistance, food banks and food distribution in rural areas (dollars can be used for pre-award costs incurred related to COVID-19 if not reimbursed by other federal sources); and
Track 2 – Impact Grants – future efforts to address and support long-term sustainability of rural health care. The grants do have a matching requirement that may not make applying manageable for all rural members.
- Track 1 applications will be determined by each state USDA Rural Development Office, while the federal office will review Track 2 applications. More information on these two grant programs including application guides is available here.
The application deadline is October 12th at 4 PM local time. However, USDA indicates that Track 1 grant applications will continue to be accepted after this date until funds are exhausted.
LEADINGAGE KANSAS NEWS
Join Us Friday for our Weekly Webinar
Make sure you tune in to see what LeadingAge Kansas is doing on COVID, for advocacy, member benefits/services and much more. Register today.
LEADINGAGE NATIONAL NEWS
Build Back Better Reconciliation Action Alert
Please continue to share our action alert with your members. We have had over 1,000 advocates act and we need to keep up the pressure Here is template alert text and link to share:
The Congressional Infrastructure Package Must Include Older Adults
House committees have passed bills that make significant investments to support older adults and LeadingAge members. The next step is to bring these committee bills to the House floor as one $3.5 trillion package. NOW is the moment to ensure programs and resources are not cut as the process moves forward!
The infrastructure package must include committee-passed provisions for:
- At least $190 billion for home and community-based services to allow more older adults to get the help they need to grow older wherever they call home, including increasing pay for the staff who provide the help.
- $2.4 billion to create 35,500 new Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly homes, new Service Coordinators, and help for states to bring services to HUD-assisted older adults.
- Fixes to the Right of First Refusal for Low Income Housing Tax Credit nonprofit owners.
- $55 billion to increase Medicaid reimbursement for nursing homes so they can pay wages that enable them to recruit and retain staff, especially front-line workers.
- $1.5 billion investment in the aging services workforce to implement strategies to strengthen recruitment, career, and training opportunities that our nation’s direct care workers need to care for millions of older Americans and people with disabilities.
- $425 million to expand allied health professions training grants for low-income recipients, that allow SNFs and nonprofit organizations to administer the programs.
Now is the time to act – send a message to your U.S. Representative and Senators today. LINK: https://mobilize4change.org/Rv4BBTh
Updated Guidance on Federal Workforce Vaccine Mandate
The Safer Federal Workplace Task Force updated their Vaccination FAQs with guidance on how the federal government will address vaccinations within its workforce and provided some hints on the process it will follow for requests for exemptions to the vaccine mandate. The guidance also included templates for requesting a medical or religious exemption that federal agencies can utilize. These templates are helpful to see how the government will handle such exemption requests and we will monitor to see how these are consistent with whatever guidance that CMS issues regarding the vaccine mandate for Medicare and Medicaid providers.
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