LEADINGAGE KANSAS NEWS
Here is the Recording for Today’s Weekly Webinar
Thanks to all who joined us today! If you missed it, listen to the recording and download the handouts. Feel free to use the member survey infographic in the handouts for use with staff and/or board members to give them an update on what was going on with our members this fall. We will conduct another survey soon to get updated information once our legislative platform has been finalized.
Join us next week for more updates on COVID and more. Register here.
Ongoing workforce advocacy:
- Adult care home/PACE employee retention program
- ”Strike teams” with CDC/KDHE grant
- Temporary aide reauthorization
- RN waiver
- National guard
- Regulatory pathway to temporary shut down while maintaining licensure
The Board will meet December 9th to determine Legislative Priorities. You are encouraged to send your thoughts to debra@leadingagekansas.org and she will convey to the Board.
VACCINE NEWS
CMS Issues Memo Related to Vaccine Mandate
CMS issued a memo this afternoon acknowledging the court rulings from Missouri and Louisiana that prohibit CMS from implementing and enforcing the interim final rule in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and US Territories. CMS has appealed both court decisions and filed motions for stays of the orders but states, “while these preliminary injunctions are in effect, surveyors must not survey providers for compliance with the requirements of the Interim Final Rule.” Read the full CMS memo here.
CMS Vaccine Mandate IFR on Hold for Now
CMS is currently enjoined from implementing and enforcing the Interim Final Rule (IFR) on vaccination mandates on a nationwide basis based upon two separate federal district courts issuing preliminary injunctions.
- A federal court judge in the Western District of Louisiana issued an orderyesterday enjoining and restraining CMS from implementing the IFR for Medicare and Medicaid providers. The scope of this injunction is nationwide except for the 10 states already covered under the decision issued Monday by a court in Missouri.
- The Biden Administration has already filed an appeal of the Missouri decision with the 8thCircuit Court of Appeals.
- We anticipate the Administration will also appeal the Louisiana ruling to the 5thCircuit Court of Appeals.
- There is no timeline on when the appeals will be heard.
CMS provided this response and asked that LeadingAge members continue to help staff be vaccinated from a public health perspective.: “CMS is aware of the recent action by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and is reviewing the courts’ holding. At this time, there is nothing additional to share.”
OSHA Extends Comments Period for the Vaccination and Testing ETS
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Wednesday issued a 45-day extension to the comment period for the COVID-19 vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard (ETS) for employers with 100 or more employees. OSHA says the deadline was pushed to January 19, 2022, to allow stakeholders time to review the ETS and collect information and data necessary for comment. OSHA is currently prohibited from implementing and enforcing the ETS because a preliminary injunction is in place until we get a further decision from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
CMS to Begin Posting Booster Data Reported to NHSN
On December 9th, CMS will begin posting nursing home level booster data; CDC will post it at the state level.
FEDERAL UPDATE
New Blanket Waiver on Directors of Food and Nutrition
CMS issued a new 1135 Blanket waiver today on the requirements of a Director of Food and Nutrition Services, effective November 26, 2021. The waiver allows more flexibility in the education and training requirements for individuals serving as Directors of Food and Nutrition Services.
Provider Relief Fund Payment Updates
HRSA shared on a stakeholder’s call that 43,759 providers qualified for American Rescue Plan (ARP) rural payments through the Provider Relief Fund and 90% of payments went to providers located in rural areas. 68% of the ARP rural payments went to acute care hospitals based upon the methodology for these payments compared to 11% to nursing homes. Payments were determined based upon analyzing Medicare and Medicaid claims data from January 1, 2019 through September 30, 2020 to determine the volume and type of services a provider delivered to rural beneficiaries. For more information, here is an article on the ARP Rural payments so members know what those payments in their bank account is for.HRSA also noted that they plan to start sending out Phase 4 PRF Payments in mid to late December.
Official CMS Response to LeadingAge on Fire Safety Scoring Delay
We received a response to Katie Sloan’s letter to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure concerning the “mandatory values” scoring system for nursing homes. Moments before the previous delay ran out, CMS issued an update to the waiver guidance extending the deadline to November 1, 2023. We pushed that guidance out the day we received it. Yesterday’s letter from the Administrator formally responds that the extension came out on October 20th.
LEADINGAGE NATIONAL NEWS
Next Week’s Online Coronavirus Policy Updates
Join us next Monday and Wednesday at 2:30 PM CT for our online policy updates. Register today.
- Monday, December 6th – Epidemiologist Dr. Katlyn Jetelina will provide up-to-the-minute updates and analysis on new treatments for COVID-19 and how Omicron may impact vaccines and boosters.
- Wednesday, December 8th – Nate Schema, president/CEO of The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, will share about their success in building trust and confidence with employees on vaccines.
New Insights and Tools from LeadingAge
LeadingAge staff experts are developing essential advocacy, guidance, and tools, andcurating the most relevant resources for aging services providers, including:
- ARP Rural Payments Distributed, Phase 4 to Begin Soon
- Review – Survey of COVID Dining Services Staffing Challenges
- LeadingAge Nursing Home Advisory Group – November 2021
- Interview with Dr. Ghinwa Dumyati-December 1, 2021
- A Conversation with a Housing Provider on Community Partnerships and Boosters
New Action Alert: Senate Must Pass the Build Back Better Infrastructure Package and Take Out Harmful Nursing Home Provisions
As the Senate debates the historic expansions in housing, services, and workforce in the House-passed Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376), we want to urge Senators to preserve these ground-breaking provisions and increase the funding for new construction of HUD Section 202 homes for low-income older people. However, to preserve maximum choice for older people and their families, there are two provisions in the bill related to nursing home staffing that LeadingAge cannot support without key changes. Retaining the nursing home staffing study and the 24-hour registered nurse coverage requirements as currently written will make it impossible for many nursing homes to survive. We need your help now! Without these changes and further investments in our aging services infrastructure, too many older adults will not have their basic needs met. Send a message to your U.S. Senators today.
RESOURCES
Dining Services Staffing Challenges and Solutions Survey
Recently, Senior Housing News and Sodexo teamed up to survey 110 senior serving organizations regarding the changes they’ve made in response to the post-COVID staffing crisis in dining services. The survey results were released this week; you can read our summary and review here.
THANK YOU TO OUR PLATINUM SPONSOR
