FEDERAL NEWS

CMS Releases Blog on Roadmap to the End of COVID PHE
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a blog post looking at the agency’s use of emergency authority waivers (including 250,000 1135 waivers), regulations, enforcement discretion, and sub-regulatory guidance to ensure access to care and give health care providers the flexibilities needed to respond to COVID-19 and help keep people safer. While the flexibilities will be in place until the end of the Public Health Emergency (PHE), and Secretary Becerra has committed to a 60-day notice prior to the end, CMS is encouraging health care providers to prepare for the end of these flexibilities as soon as possible and to begin moving forward to reestablishing previous health and safety standards and billing practices. CMS shares what they believe should remain in place and what they need action on from Congress. Other flexibilities have been rolled back in response to CMS’ patient care concerns which CMS has been monitoring carefully. CMS has developed a roadmap for the eventual end of the Medicare PHE waivers and flexibilities, and is sharing information on what health care facilities and providers can do to prepare for future events. CMS also released today fact sheets summarizing the current status of Medicare Blanket waivers and flexibilities by provider type as well as flexibilities applicable to the Medicaid community.

• Long Term Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities and/or Nursing Facilities)  (PDF)
• Home Health Agencies   (PDF)
• Hospice (PDF)

LEADINGAGE KANSAS NEWS

Friday Webinars: This Week We Will Talk About the CARE Backlog
This Friday, get the latest on the CARE/PASSR backlog and remedies from Drew Adkins, KDADS.

Stay up to date on COVID-19, CMS, the Legislature and more each Friday at 10 AM. If you haven’t registered for future calls, you can do so here. If you would like to listen to updates you have missed, visit this page.

LEADINGAGE NATIONAL NEWS

For Members: $20,000 COVID Vaccine Booster Grant
As part of our participation in the CDC’s Vaccine Access and Equity Project with Community Catalyst, we’re distributing $20,000 grants to 3-5 members in support of efforts to identify, convene, plan, and implement partnerships around the COVID-19 vaccine. Encourage your members to apply today.

LeadingAge Coronavirus Calls This Week

• Monday, August 22nd, 2:30 PM CT.  Jeannee Parker Martin, President and CEO of LeadingAge California will join us on Monday to discuss the gateway-in project, a three-year pipeline program that will actively promote, recruit, train and provide wrap-around services and retention incentives for thousands of new Certified Nursing Assistants and Home Health Aides across the state of California.
• Wednesday, August 24th, at 2:30 PM CT, hear from Davis Park, Vice President with the Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing, for an exciting new launch of their tele-wellness playbook for affordable senior housing communities. 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.

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