LeadingAge to CMS: Engage with Us on Survey Reform
LeadingAge sent a letter to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure on January 4th urging the agency to engage with LeadingAge and other stakeholders on survey reform. This should be an “all hands” effort with those...
KDADS HCBS Stakeholder Group Update
The HCBS Stakeholder group met Tuesday, January 16th and mentioned that Final Settings Rule policies may be available for public comment by as soon as next week. As a reminder, the Final Settings Rule...
CDC Advisory Panel Recommends Another COVID Shot for Older Adults
On February 28, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that people 65 and older receive an additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine’s current formulation. The recommendation...
CMS Provides KDADS SCCC with Enhanced Barrier Precautions FAQ
Last week, Lacey Hunter with the Survey and Credentialing Commission at KDADS joined the LeadingAge Kansas weekly webinar to discuss the minimum staffing rule and other updates. One of the items she mentioned was...
President Biden Vetoes Congressional Resolution of Disapproval of NLRB Joint Employer Rule
On May 3, President Biden vetoed a Congressional resolution that would have overturned a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) final rule, issued in October 2023, establishing a new and broader standard for determining whether...
New Brief on Leveraging Medicaid to Expand Community Based Palliative Care
The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) released a new brief on how states can leverage current Medicaid services to meet palliative care needs in the community. The brief includes outlines of how HCBS...
Joint Bob Bethell Committee to Meet on February 2nd
Legislators will come together for an all-day meeting on Friday, February 2nd to hear feedback from stakeholders on KanCare and other healthcare related issues. Testimony will be written only since the agenda is packed...
OIG Releases Report on Nursing Homes’ Experiences During COVID
The Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) published a report on February 29, Lessons Learned During the Pandemic Can Help Improve Care in Nursing Homes. The report is the...
Bipartisan Bill Introduced to Address Assisted Living Workforce and Increase Accessibility for Seniors
On March 8, Representatives Scott Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Lori Trahan (D-MA) introduced the Safeguarding Elderly Needs for Infrastructure and Occupational Resources (SENIOR) Act to increase access to care for older adults and support the...
Change Healthcare Cyberattack Updates:
CMS Announces Terms of Accelerated and Advanced Payments
CMS issued a fact sheet on how its new Change Healthcare/Optum Payment Disruption (CHOPD) Accelerated and Advance payments will be evaluated and shared this information with the...
CAHPS Hospice Survey Quality Assurance Guide Updated
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an updated CAHPS Hospice Survey Quality Assurance Guide. The manual was created to standardize the survey data collection process and to ensure comparability of data...
NHSN Outage Scheduled for February 23rd – 25th
NHSN sent an email blast on February 12th notifying users that a system upgrade will take the application offline Friday, February 23rd, through Sunday, February 25th. This means that NHSN users will be unable...