STATE
Nursing Home COVID-19 Relief Funds to be Released: Sign and Return attestation now.
Before KDADS sends nursing homes their extra Cares Act allocation that was approved by SPARK and the State Finance Council providers will need to download this Coronavirus Relief Fund Attestation, sign and return it no later than Sept. 30 (if you wish to accept your allocation.) See Your organization’s allocation at Federal Coronavirus Relief Fund Allocation. Here is what KDADS shared about how the allocations were calculated.
Sept. 3rd, 1 PM Webinar on Regional COVID-19 Post-Acute Planning Project
Register today for “Breaking Barriers – Transitioning to Post-Acute Care During COVID-19 and Beyond.” The purpose of the webinar is to provide information about developing plans in each regional Health Care Coalition for COVID-19 post-acute care. The webinar will be recorded and made available afterward.
CORRECTION ON REGISTRATION INFO for Sept. 8th, 11 AM KDHE & KDADS Webinar on COVID-19. To participate in this webinar, log onto the zoom meeting a few minutes before 11 AM and follow the prompts. You do not need to register ahead of time.The webinar is for LTC providers on the COVID-19 pandemic, discuss LTC specific concerns and guidance, and answer questions from stakeholders. (Questions about KDHE and KDADS requirements on testing in light of the new CMS testing requirement will be fielded.) If you send us your questions for KDHE or KDADS ahead of the webinar, we will forward them on to be addresses at the webinar. Send to Debra@leadingagekansas.org.
FEDERAL
MORE ON CMS NURSING HOME TESTING MANDATE
Positivity Rate
For the purposes of the new CMS requirement, the “county positivity rate” is calculated by dividing the number of positive tests in the county by the number of tests done in the county. (Note: This is different from the ‘case rate” that KDHE posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.) Check for your county positivity rate here. Nursing homes should monitor these rates every other week here and adjust staff testing accordingly.
What does CMS say if a staff member refuses testing…
- If a staff member shows symptoms and refuses testing, they have to be kept out of work until they meet the CDC criteria for return to work (10-20 days since symptom onset with at least 24 hours fever-free without the use of fever-reducing medication.)
- If the employee is asymptomatic and refusing screening testing in response to an outbreak, the employee must be kept out of work until all outbreak testing has been completed (that is, everyone tests negative and it’s been 14 days since the last positive).
- If the employee is asymptomatic and refusing routine surveillance testing, the nursing home must refer to occupational health and local jurisdiction policies for how to handle that.
Federal Funds Coming For Assisted Living if you Sign up by Sept. 13TH
Yesterday evening HHS announced that it will take applications for assisted living facilities (AL) to receive Provider Relief Funds. The announcement detailed that HHS is inviting applications for provider relief funds that may have been previously ineligible for Phase 2 General Distribution funds. AL’s will receive 2% of their annual revenue from resident care. Additional details are available on the Provider Relief Website. Providers will have until September 13TH to begin the process by entering their Tax Identification Number (TIN) for validation. It is highly unlikely there will be an extension on this deadline. CAVEAT: If your organization is a CCRC/LPC that has already received a 2% distribution across your lines of business, you will not receive any more by applying as the assisted living. If, however, your AL is under a different tax identification number then apply and go through this process.
LEADINGAGE KANSAS UPDATE
Don’t Forget to Register for This Week’s LKS Webinar
We have come to the end of our August Weekly webinar series. Thanks to all who have joined us. If you missed any, here is a link to our archives.
As we move into the rest of the year, you will need to re-register for the webinars. Here is the link to register and we look forward to seeing you all next week.
LEADINGAGE NATIONAL UPDATE
Wednesday, September 2nd, LeadingAge Coronavirus Update Call. Building Trust through COVID-19
Concerned about racial disparities during COVID-19? Looking for the latest on the new CMS testing rule, antigen testing, provider relief, HCBS developments, and HUD CARES Act implementation? Join us on Wednesday, September 2nd, at 3:30 Eastern time for the latest up to the minute policy updates and to hear how the nation’s oldest African American-founded nursing home is overcoming the health crisis. We’ll hear from Danny Williams, President and CEO of Eliza Bryant in West Cleveland: With a 95% African American resident population, Eliza Bryant has set up an onsite dialysis center – open to residents and to the broader community – to better serve the minority group health needs of the Black community. Throughout the call, Williams will talk about how their new Elder Justice Center brings hope and housing to older adults experiencing abuse. He’ll also share Eliza Bryant’s history of building trust with residents and the neighborhood, ultimately leading to their story of COVID-19 survival. If you’re not already registered for the calls, you can register here.
Other info from national:
- LeadingAge Need to Know for 9-2-2020.
- Coronovirus Daily Member Update 8-31-2020.
- View the Latest Info, News, and Tools from LeadingAge.
TESTING
Resource
Considerations for interpreting antigen test results in nursing homes.
BD and Quidel Manufacturer Webinar
US HHS will host a webinar with BD and Quidel on September 3, 2020 from 11:00 AM-12:00 PM Central Time to walk through each manufacturer’s training modules that are being utilized by the nursing homes. Each manufacturer will have a 30-minute time slot to present and answer any questions. You can register here.
Testing Supplies
If you have a BD machine, here is a link for testing supplies.
