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Save the Date: NASUAD Spring Meeting
Save the Date for the NASUAD Spring Meeting, May 1-2, 2014, at the Sheraton Downtown Hotel, Denver, Colorado.
This meeting will bring together state policymakers and those who administer, manage and deliver Older American Act programs, waiver services, and other Home and Community Based Service programs in the states.
Check out our website for more information and registration updates as they become available.
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Aging Network Volunteer Collaborative
Join the First PowerUP! Institute
The inaugural PowerUP! Institute will be held on February 12-13, 2014, in San Francisco, CA.
The Aging Network Volunteer Collaborative has partnered with the Self Directed Volunteer Teams Network to provide training for organizations in the aging network. Train your organization to form Self-Directed Volunteer Teams™, using a research-based framework. These volunteer teams will learn how to carry out projects that extend your capacity to serve older adults.
Training involves online and in-person sessions. Paid staff of a participating organization must attend the online tutorial on February 5, 2014. Volunteer leaders from the participating organization must attend both the online training as well as the in-person session held February 12-13, 2014, at the Presidio Trust in San Francisco, CA. Future training date and locations will be announced soon.
Click here to view a PowerUP! Institute overview.
Click here to take the online tutorial that explains the training.
Click here to view the San Francisco training details and enroll.
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Centers for Disease Control and Preparedness
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CDC Issues New Report on Preventing Chronic Disease
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Community Health has issued a new report entitled, Preventing Chronic Disease: Collection of Community Experiences. The report collates papers based on the Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) initiative which supports 50 communities in tackling obesity and tobacco use - two leading preventable causes of death and disability in the United States. The collection of papers includes: - Formative Evaluation for a Healthy Corner Store Initiative in Pitt County, North Carolina: Assessing the Rural Food Environment, Part 1
- Development of a Community-Sensitive Strategy to Increase Availability of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables in Nashville's Urban Food Deserts, 2010-2012
- The Impact of New York City's Health Bucks Program on Electronic Benefit Transfer Spending at Farmers Markets, 2006-2009
- Increasing Access to Farmers Markets for Beneficiaries of Nutrition Assistance: Evaluation of the Farmers Market Access Project
- Partnering With Community Institutions to Increase Access to Healthful Foods Across Municipalities
Click here to learn more about the CPPW initiative.
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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
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CMS Releases MLN Matters® Manual Updates
CMS released a Medicare Learning Network (MLN) Matters® article on manual updates to clarify Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF), Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF), Home Health (HH), and Outpatient (OPT) Coverage. This article is designed to provide education on the updated portions of the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual (MBPM) and includes clarification on the coverage requirements of skilled nursing and skilled therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries.
Click here to view the article.
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National Institutes of Health
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NIH Releases New Publication on Dementia
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released a new publication, entitled The Dementias: Hope Through Research. The publication explores the range of dementias, including Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal disorders, dementia caused by traumatic brain injury, and others. The publication also describes each condition, how dementia is diagnosed and treated, and the latest research.
Click here to view the publication.
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Office of Disability Employment Policy
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ODEP Releases New Study on Health Care Transition and Employment
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The House and Senate are in recess until January 27
Spending Levels Set for the Remainder of FY14
Last week, Congress passed, and the President signed, an omnibus spending bill to fund the federal government for the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2014.
The measure adheres to the trillion-dollar spending cap set by December's budget deal, the Bipartisan Budget Act (PL 113-67). The Act partially rolled back the sequester in FY14 and FY15, increasing total discretionary spending this year to $1.012 trillion. Absent the budget deal, FY14 discretionary dollars would have been capped at $967 billion, a $20 billion decrease from FY13 post-sequester levels.
As a result of these partially restored funds, appropriators had more to work with in FY14 than they would have otherwise. However, the budget deal did not provide enough relief to allow lawmakers to return all discretionary program funding to pre-sequester FY12 levels, as NASUAD and other organizations had requested. Therefore, appropriators had to decide how to distribute the modest amount of restored funding among their assigned agencies and programs, across all 12 annual spending bills.
Under the negotiated deal, most Older Americans Act (OAA) programs will receive level-funding in FY14, relative to the FY13 post-sequester levels. A few programs, including Aging and Disability Resource Centers and Elder Rights Support Activities, will see slight boosts. The OAA nutrition programs - Congregate and Home Delivered Meals, as well as the Nutrition Services Incentive Program - received the largest increases, bringing their FY14 funding to just below pre-sequester levels.
Additionally, the omnibus transfers mandatory dollars from the Affordable Care Act's Prevention and Public Health Fund to support activities at the Administration for Community Living (ACL), including Chronic Disease Self-Management ($8 million); Elder Falls Prevention ($5 million); and the Alzheimer's Disease Initiative ($14.7).
Unfortunately, the Elder Justice Act's Adult Protective Services Demonstration did not receive the $8 million in first time discretionary funding as requested in the Administration's FY14 budget, but the omnibus does transfer administrative authority for the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to ACL, as outlined in the President's recent budgets and supported by NASUAD.
Click here for NASUAD's FY14 Budget Chart, which contains individual program funding levels key HHS programs, including the OAA.
Click here to view the text of the omnibus.
Click here to view the House Summary of the bill.
Click here to view the Senate Summary of the bill.
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Employer Assistance and Resource Network
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EARN Releases Two Reports on Disability Employment The Employer Assistance and Resource Network (EARN) released two new reports on disability employment entitled, States as Model Employers of People with Disabilities and Read "Advancing Economic Opportunities for Business Owners and Job Seekers with Disabilities. The first report examines states as model employers of people with disabilities while the second report examines advancing economic opportunities for business owners and job seekers with disabilities.
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Institute of Medicine's Advanced Dementia Meeting
The Institute of Medicine is holding their 1st Advanced Dementia Meeting on January 28 in Washington, D.C. Fourteen experts on advanced dementia will discuss and make suggestions on how providers, including primary care physicians and hospitals, should address patient-centered goals of care and care-related issues, such as infection management, feeding and nutrition problems, falls and injury prevention, transitional care and hospitalizations, and communication. The experts may also discuss models to improve care for persons with advanced dementia.
Click here for information about public attendance at this meeting and participation in future meetings.
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New Study on Public Health Dimensions of Cognitive Aging
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) will begin a new study, entitled, Public Health Dimensions of Cognitive Aging. This 20-month study will focus on cognitive aging which is distinct from Alzheimer's disease. Organizations and their members are encouraged to participate in several ways.
- Attend the IOM committee meetings and participate in the April or June public testimony sessions. The first meeting is on February 3, 2014, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET at the National Academy of Sciences Building, 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. Seating is limited and there will not be an opportunity for public testimony. The committee's public workshops on April 10 (Washington, DC) and June 9 (Irvine, CA) will include time for public testimony.
- Sign up for the committee's listserv.
- Contact cognitive@nas.edu to submit comments to the committee.
Click here to view the study website and sign up for the committee's listserv.
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National Council on Aging
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New Benefit Enrollment Centers
Eight organizations have received grant funding from the Center for Benefits Access to serve as Benefits Enrollment Centers (BECs) over the next year. These organizations will build their capacity to conduct benefits outreach and enrollment for low-income seniors. With a third round of Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) funding available late last year, the Center was able to expand its BEC network by funding additional organizations to carry out this work in collaboration with community agencies. The Center offered grants in two categories: full-fledged BECs, and capacity-building grants to assist organizations to scale up their work to be able to function as a full BEC in the future.
Click here to view the list of new organizations.
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Webinar: When Core Benefits Are Not Enough
The National Council on Aging is holding a webinar entitled,
When Core Benefits Are Not Enough.
The webinar will be held on February 5, 2014, 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. This webinar will train benefit counselors in how to assist clients with accessing services not traditionally covered by Medicare (for example, dental, vision, and hearing care), as well as offer links and resources to other supportive services in your community.
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The National Human Services Assembly
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National Collaboration for Families Convening Meeting
The National Human Services Assembly is hosting its annual National Collaboration for Families Convening on January 30, 10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET, entitled, Increasing Financial Stability for Low-Income Families. The meeting will review different employer-based services and strategies that help address the financial needs of their low-paid staff. During the meeting, attendees (National Assembly members and allies) will be encouraged to look at themselves not only as service providers and advocates, but also as a consortium of employers who can increase the financial stability of low-wage frontline workers, who provide direct care for many more millions of children, older adults, and persons with disabilities, and their families.
Click here to register. Space is limited, so please sign up as soon as possible if you would like to attend.
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National Senior Citizens Law Center
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2014 Transition Policies for Medicare Part D
The National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC) has prepared a fact sheet to assist advocates in understanding the transition rights of their clients.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires that sponsors of Medicare Part D prescription drug plans provide beneficiaries with access to transition supplies of needed medications. This action will protect beneficiaries from disruption and give adequate time to move over to a drug that is on a plan's formulary, file a formulary exception request or, particularly for Low Income Subsidy (LIS) recipients, enroll in a different plan.
The fact sheet provides the minimum requirements for all Medicare Part D prescription drug plans set by CMS.
Click here to view the fact sheet.
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Partnership for Patients Campaign
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Webinar: Preventing Readmissions and Coordinating with CCTP Sites
The Partnership for Patients Campaign (PfP)is holding a webinar entitled: Preventing Readmissions and Coordinating with CCTP Sites. The webinar will be held on February 4, 2014, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. This webinar will provide an in-depth look at how community partnerships have collaborated on system transformations to produce readmission improvements. It will also share how alignment with partners, such as Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) and Community-based Care Transitions Program (CCTP) sites can assist Hospital Engagement Networks (HENs) and hospitals to achieve performance data in readmissions, and deliver effective care transition models.
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Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative
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PCPCC Releases Report on the Medical's Home Impact on Cost and Quality
- PCMH studies continue to demonstrate impressive improvements across a broad range of categories including: cost, utilization, population health, prevention, access to care, and patient satisfaction, while a gap still exists in reporting impact on clinician satisfaction.
- The PCMH continues to play a role in strengthening the larger health care system, specifically Accountable Care Organizations and the emerging medical neighborhood model.
- Significant payment reforms are incorporating the PCMH and its key attributes.
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Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Updates Commission Report to Build a Healthier America
- Investing in the foundations of lifelong physical and mental well-being in our youngest children
- Creating communities that foster health-promoting behaviors
- Broadening health care to promote health outside of the medical system
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LeadingAge 2014 PEAK Leadership Summit
The PEAK Leadership Summit will be held from March 17-19 in Washington, DC. The Summit will bring together the best leaders in aging services to support innovation, embrace new opportunities and improve the present state of aging services. A few examples of PEAK's programing around Leadership and Innovation include:
- Leadership Workshop
- Cultures of Innovation
- Leading Your Organization through Disruptive Innovation
- Leading Change with Enthusiasm
Click here to register and view the Summit website.
Click here to download the brochure.
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FEMA seeks a qualified individual to serve as a Program Assistant for the Office of Disability Integration and Coordination. The individual will help integrate and coordinate national disability inclusive emergency management efforts. This role is part of FEMA's disaster workforce and is held at FEMA Headquarters in the Washington, DC area.
Click here to learn more about the position.
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National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a): Director/Manager of Public Policy and Advocacy
The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) seeks a mid-level, full-time policy professional to join our advocacy department. This position plays a vital role in all of n4a's policy and advocacy efforts, including but not limited to policy development, issue advocacy, policy communications, grassroots advocacy, legislative affairs and event planning.
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Consumer Input for Evidence-Based Healthcare
Full Title: Deliberative Approaches: Patient and Consumer Input for Implementing Evidence-Based Health Care (R21)
Issuing Agency: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Eligible Applicants: State governments; Native American tribal governments and organizations; County governments; City or township governments
Funding Level: $200,000
Close Date: February 7, 2014, 5:00 p.m. local time
Funding Opportunity Number: RFA-HS-14-007
CFDA Number: 93.226
Description:
Deliberative methods offer means to gain insight into patient and public views that can inform and improve clinical, program, and policy decisions in health care. The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to use deliberative methods to understand and clarify important public or patient values and concerns that affect the implementation of specific interventions, programs or policies to improve health care or research. Applications must be submitted via Grants.gov.
Click here for more information on this grant opportunity, and to apply.
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