FEDERAL NEWS
PHE Extended
On October 13th, Secretary Xavier Becerra extended the public health emergency for another 90 days. It now is extended until January. HHS has promised 60 days’ notice if they are going to end the PHE; we will know in mid-November if the PHE will be extended past January.
Reminder: Providers to Take Action Now to Meet October 21st Deadline to Claim PRF Payments
Members who have had their applications approved for Phase 4 or ARP Rural may not have yet received those funds because they must have an Optum Pay account established in order for HRSA to transfer the funds. HRSA has set a deadline that this account set up must be completed by October 21st, which means they must take action now to set up those accounts. We originally shared this information September 19th on our Coronavirus Member Call and in Need To Know shortly after when the deadline was first announced. Account set up can take up to 10 business days so it is possible that a provider could miss this deadline even if they initiate account set up immediately. Providers who are uncertain if this situation applies to them should first contact the Provider Support Line (866-569-3522) to see if they have pending Phase 4 or ARP rural funds and need to set up an Optum Pay Account. If this situation does apply, providers should initiate that set up IMMEDIATELY. It is unclear if HRSA will ultimately permit providers who initiate account set up prior to October 21st but are not approved until after to still receive funds but it is important for members to try. Members who are just initiating this account set up can email Nicole Fallon so she can notify her HRSA contact that account set up has been initiated in the hopes that HRSA will allow those providers to still receive their funds. HRSA has conducted considerable outreach to these providers on this matter to no avail. The deadline for establishing an October 21st, 5 PM Central Time deadline for providers to complete this account enrollment or the funds will no longer be available to these providers. For links to the Optum Pay set up and Learn more about the required steps click here.
HHS #VaxUpAmerica Resources
HHS has developed tools aging services professionals can use to encourage Americans to get an updated COVID vaccine this fall. Resources include social media tools, FAQs, and videos, including a video in Spanish encouraging Latinos ages 50 and older to get an updated COVID vaccine. The new social media tools are part of HHS’s COVID Vaccines Toolkit, which is also available in Spanish.
LEADINGAGE KANSAS NEWS
Friday Webinar
Join us this Friday for an update on what is going on pertaining to COVID, updates on the association front, and much more.
Immediately following our short COVID Update, we will be switching over to our Zoom platform to celebrate the 2022 Scholarship Winners. Make plans to join us. You can reserve your virtual seat here.
If you haven’t registered already, you can do so here. You can also see archived webinars and get handouts here.
LEADINGAGE NATIONAL NEWS
No COVID Update Calls This Week – They Will be at LeadingAge’s Annual Meeting
On Monday, October 24th, at 2:30 PM CT, Taryn Williams U.S. Department of Labor Assistant Secretary for Employment will talk about resources her office has developed for employees who have Long COVID. In addition, we’ll discuss what the Department is doing to support employers who in turn can support the changing mental health needs of workers.
On Wednesday, October 26th, at 2:30 PM CT, Dr. Michael Barnett of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, will join the call for a conversation about COVID and people over age 65. In addition, we’ll ask him about his work on the increased need for mental health services and barriers to access, including his focus on particular concerns in rural areas.
If you haven’t registered for LeadingAge Update Calls, you can do so here. You can also find previous call recordings here. Note that to access recordings of the calls you need a LeadingAge password. Any staff member of any LeadingAge member organization can set up a password to access previous calls and other “members only” content.
THANKS TO OUR BRONZE PARTNER
