Current Talking Points & Templates for Media Engagement:
USAToday Dec. 1, 202 Story Response, SNF Talking Points
Hospice & Accountability Messaging and Talking Points
Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talevski Background & Talking Points
See link to full State Media Resources folder at bottom of page.
II. Following the Narrative: A quick summary of national media trends last week.
(* indicates that LeadingAge is featured in the story.)
Adding to national media’s current focus on older Americans’ vaccines and bivalent booster uptake, post-Thanksgiving surging COVID cases and hospitalization rates, the White House’s Dec. 15 announcement of its COVID-19 Winter Preparedness Plan coupled with a late Friday change in CDC policy allowing nursing homes to administer the new bivalent booster to residents yielded a full week of aging services coverage. On the trades front, reporting took a similar focus to national, while also including year-end round-ups, “looking ahead” to 2023 pieces, with some interest in LeadingAge national’s letter to President Biden proposing creation of a White House Office on Aging Policy.
Biden Administration, Congress, Government Agencies
- *McKnight’s Long-Term Care: Form central agency to focus on care for aging: LeadingAge to White House
- *McKnight’s Senior Living: Providers call for centralized Office on Aging Policy at the federal level
- *Health Leaders: LeadingAge CEO Urges Biden Administration To Create Office On Aging Policy
- *ProPublica: Congress and Industry Leaders Call for Crackdown on Hospice Fraud
- McKnight’s Long-Term Care: For-profit providers still on hot seat in final House COVID report
- McKnight’s Long-Term Care: Nursing homes escape rehashed criticism in final coronavirus crisis hearing
- McKnight’s Home Care: Industry seeks delay of home health cut in funding bill
- McKnight’s Long-Term Care: Grieving Families Act would leave skilled nursing providers crying their own tears
- McKnight’s Long-Term Care: MedPAC recommends fresh Medicare cuts for skilled nursing
- McKnight’s Home Care: Lump of coal? MedPAC recommends trimming 7% to home health, 20% to hospice rates in 2024
- AP News: Biden administration proposes crackdown on scam Medicare ads
Coronavirus and Other Outbreaks, Vaccines and Treatments, Workforce, Closures
- *The Hill: Lagging booster rates raise fears over deadly winter in nursing homes
- *McKnight’s Senior Living: White House thrusts long-term care into COVID-19 winter preparedness plans
- USA Today: As COVID cases rise, White House announces more prevention efforts, including free tests
- McKnight’s Senior Living: White House message on COVID-19 bivalent booster: ‘Don’t wait’
- ABC News: As post-Thanksgiving COVID hospitalizations spike, Dr. Jha urges people to get new booster
- CNBC: Less than 50% of nursing home residents have received omicron booster ahead of expected winter Covid wave
- NPR: Updated COVID booster shots reduce the risk of hospitalization, CDC reports
- *(Podcast) McKnight’s Long-Term Care: Finding vaccination solutions takes on new urgency amid winter, cultural threats
- AARP: Surging Cases and Deaths in Nursing Homes Suggest Another Winter COVID-19 Spike
- *McKnight’s Long-Term Care: Hit these 3 targets to avoid respiratory outbreaks, U.S. COVID czar tells nursing homes
- Skilled Nursing News: ‘Proof is There’: Successful Skilled Nursing Staffing Initiatives By the Numbers
- Skilled Nursing News: $11.3 Billion Needed to Meet Proposed Federal Minimum Staffing Mandate
- McKnight’s Long-Term Care: Potential staff mandate costs rocket upward when latest wages factored in
- *McKnight’s Long-Term Care: OSHA moves to make COVID-19-related standards permanent
- Hospice News: Hospices Brace for Year 4 of COVID PHE, Await Word of Telehealth’s Future
- *McKnight’s Senior Living: COVID-19 digital memorial binds strangers through shared grief
- The New York Times: U.S. Will Offer Free At-Home Covid Tests as Part of Winter Plan
III. Other Clips that Influenced the Week: LeadingAge is a sought-out, reliable source for multiple trade and national media outlets (see that coverage posted in our LeadingAge Press Room). Other key clips that shaped the narrative last week:
- *McKnight’s Senior Living: Senior living provider groups maintain opposition to proposed ‘joint employer’ rule
- *McKnight’s Senior Living: Potential national provider directory draws support but raises concerns for assisted living
- *Senior Housing News: How Scale Helps the Nation’s Largest Senior Living Communities Survive and Thrive
- *Hospice News: Key Trends That Will Shape the Hospice Industry in 2023
- McKnight’s Home Care: CMS innovation models offer potential for hospice enhancements, research firm says
- Home Health Care News: 2023 Executive Forecast: ‘Home Health Companies Must Be Operationally Nimble’
- *McKnight’s Long-Term Care: Best of the Best: McKnight’s announces inaugural Pinnacle Award winners
- The Washington Post: Does exercise really help aging brains? New study raises questions.
IV. What’s On Our Radar — this week’s likely priorities:
- Continued collaboration with White House, HHS, HUD on boosters, testing
- Hospice oversight discussions
- SNF staffing mandates
- Monitoring SCOTUS case (Talevski)
V. National Statements & Products (all posted on the Press Room page):
- LeadingAge to White House: America Needs an Office on Aging Policy (12/14/22)
- “We’re all in!” LeadingAge Partners with White House in Winter Preparedness Efforts (12/15/22)
- LeadingAge Lauds Policy Change to Increase Nursing Home Vaccine Access (12/16/22)
VI. State Association Media Materials: A folder of helpful resources, sample op-eds, fact sheets, and more.