LeadingAge Lawsuit Update: Advocates File Friend of the Court Briefs in Support of CMS Rule
On November 25, advocates filed two friend-of-the-court briefs in support of the cross-motion for summary judgment, filed November 18 by the Department of Justice on behalf of HHS and CMS, arguing that the nursing home minimum staffing rule should be upheld. The first was filed by SEIU, and the second by a group consisting of AARP, AARP Foundation, American Nurses Association, California Advocates For Nursing Home Reform, the Center For Medicare Advocacy, The Long Term Care Community Coalition, Justice In Aging, and the National Consumer Voice For Quality Long-Term Care. Links to these filings are available in our Nursing Home Staffing Mandates serial post.
Analysis: Texas Court Strikes Down DOL Overtime Regulation
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued updates to long-term care surveyor guidance located in Appendix PP of the State Operations Manual on November 18. These updates, scheduled to be implemented in February 2025, cover several key areas of the Requirements of Participation and reflect changes in practice and areas of focus by CMS over the past few years. LeadingAge highlights some of the more significant changes and their implications here.
CMS Proposes Changes to Home Health CAHPS Measures
On November 25, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2024 Measures Under Consideration (MUC) List in partnership with Battelle. This list includes all the quality and efficiency measures CMS will consider adopting, through the federal rulemaking process, in the next calendar year. Included in the 41 new measures are five measures for the Home Health Quality Reporting Program, specifically changes to five CAHPS composite measures.
Two of the proposed measure changes, Care of Patients and Communications Between Providers and Patient, if adopted could have significant impacts on the Expanded Home Health Value Based Purchasing model. As part of this yearly process, CMS makes the measures publicly available and will seek input through public comments by the CMS Consensus Based-Entity (CBE), Battelle. Comments are due by December 30, 2024. LeadingAge is honored to have Jodi Eyigor representing the post-acute care and long-term care community as part of the Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review advisory groups.
