STATE NEWS
Important Webinar on February 8th at 2 PM: KDADS LTC Provider Webinar on Staff Vaccination Regulatory Oversight and Enforcement
Time will be reserved for Q &A. Presenters: Deputy Secretary Scott Brunner, Commissioner Lacey Hunter, Assistant Commissioner Dawne Stevenson. Here is the link to participate.
FEDERAL NEWS
National CMS CDC Nursing Home Stakeholder Call, Wednesday, February 2nd, 2 PM
Topics: Updates on COVID-19, revisions to nursing home guidance, and best practices. Subject matter experts from CDC and CMS will address frequently asked questions. Registration is required: https://cms.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_k97X8g_TRrqkn-w-FOhtCA
CMS Updates the Dates in Mandate FAQ.
Last week, CMS made changes in the Frequently Asked Questions document that implements the vaccination mandate for health care workers. The changes provide the deadlines for both groups of states, those who were in the group covered immediately by the Interim Final Rule and those who were required to comply after the Supreme Court ruling that all states would have to implement the IFR. As a reminder, the states that were formerly enjoined have a phase 1 deadline of February 14th and phase 2 deadline of March 15th.
CMS Releases Resources Related to F-888 – COVID-19 Vaccination of Facility Staff
- Long-Term Care Survey Process Procedure Guide
- CMS-20054 Infection Prevention Control and Immunization Critical Element Pathway (CEP)
- Entrance Conference Worksheet
- Staff Matrix for F-888
- In addition, updates have been made to the COVID-19 FIC Survey Protocol to address additions to the process such as the new staff Matrix for F-888.
LeadingAge Kansas members are strongly encouraged to read these documents and assure that they are incorporated into their policies and procedures.
LEADINGAGE KANSAS NEWS
Make Sure You are Registered for our Weekly Webinars
Register for 2022 here if you haven’t already.
LaTurner and Davids Join 195 Members of Congress to Call on White House to Address Nurse Staffing Agencies Price Gouging. What about Estes and Mann?
195 bipartisan members of Congress sent a letter to White House COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator, calling on the White House to enlist one or more federal agencies to investigate exorbitant price increases by nurse-staffing agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The full letter is available here. Kansas Congresswoman Sharice Davids and Congressman Jake LaTurner signed the letter. Kansas Congressmen Ron Estes and Tracy Mann did not. LeadingAge Kansas members are encouraged to send a message to their members of Congress on this important topic. Note: The LeadingAge team is meeting with members of Congress to be clear that it’s not just hospitals; long-term care providers are having the same problem.
LEADINGAGE NATIONAL NEWS
This Week’s Online Coronavirus Policy Update
Join us today and Wednesday at 2:30 PM CT for our online policy updates. Today, Dr. Tetyana Shippee will join us to discuss insights on racial disparities and the long-term care workforce during COVID-19. On Wednesday, pandemic expert Dr. Monica Gandhi will talk about the latest issues with COVID-19 as deaths and cases continue to stay high across the country. Register today.
This Wednesday: Reporting on Nursing Home Infection Control Provider Relief Funds
Join us Wednesday at Noon for a webinar highlighting what LeadingAge nursing home members need to know to comply with the PRF reporting requirement. Hear from the team at the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Provider Relief Bureau, to learn more about NHIC allowable expenses, how to use the PRF Reporting Portal to report on NHIC payments, and what resources are available to assist you with reporting in Reporting Period 2. Register today.
Nursing Home Advisory Group
The group met last Tuesday. Read of summary of the call and policy updates here or access it on the LeadingAge Member Community. The Nursing Home Advisory Group meets on the last Tuesday of each month. Email Jodi Eyigor jeyigor@leadingage.org for more information.
LeadingAge Co-Signs Letter to the White House on Staff Agency Price Gouging
On January 25, 2022, LeadingAge along with several national long-term care and health care organizations, sent a coalition letter to the White House COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator, Jeffrey Zients, asking the White House to address anticompetitive price gouging practices with certain nurse-staffing agencies. Also, groups (such as LeadingAge in October 2021) previously urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate this conduct as a violation of our antitrust or consumer protection laws, and have yet to receive a response from the agency.
New Insights and Tools From LeadingAge
LeadingAge staff experts are developing essential advocacy, guidance, and tools, and curating the most relevant resources for aging services providers, including:
- Nursing Home Weekly Recap
- Life Plan Community Weekly Recap
- Home Health and Hospice Weekly Recap
- PACE Weekly Recap
- Senior Housing Weekly Recap
- LeadingAge Nursing Home Advisory Group – January 2022
- LeadingAge Pushes Back on New HUD Rent-Setting Policy
A complete timeline of insights, tools, and useful links is available here, so you’ll never miss an update.
RESOURCES
Training Materials for Surveyors
CMS’s surveyor training guidance provided by Quality, Safety, and Education Portal (QSEP) released the new training information for surveyors related to the new staff vaccination rule for LTCFs. Resources include a video as well as training slides for surveyors to reference.
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