NASUAD Hosts All-State Call on the Medicaid HCBS Settings Final Rule
NASUAD hosted an all-state call on Friday, January 17 to discuss the Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) settings final rule (CMS-2249-P2). Published in the January 16 edition of the Federal Register, the final regulation addresses several sections of Medicaid law under which states may use federal Medicaid funds to pay for HCBS. In particular, the rule establishes requirements for the qualities of settings that are eligible for reimbursement for Medicaid HCBS provided under sections 1915(c), 1915(i), and 1915(k).
Click here to access NASUAD's PowerPoint presentation reviewed during the call.
Click here to view the final rule.
Click here to access CMS's website dedicated to providing current information on the final rule.
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NASUAD to Host a Caregiver All-State Call
NASUAD will host a Caregiver all-state call on
January 23, 3:30 p.m., which will feature:
- AARP's State Advocacy & Strategy Integration Government Affairs discussing their plans to advance model legislation to support family caregivers
- An overview of the Agingcare website.
AARP's 2014 State Advocacy Agenda, and the Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable (CARE) Act will both be reviewed during the call. The CARE Act asks hospitals and rehabilitation facilities to: 1) record the name of the family caregiver in the hospital/facility record; 2)inform the family caregiver when a loved one is moved to another facility or home; and, 3) provide a demonstration of the medical tasks a family caregiver is asked to perform at home.
A Caregiving Resolution was passed in five states in 2013 (Arizona, Illinois, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia) and an additional 19 AARP State offices are working to pass the Caregiving Resolution in 2014. The following states are working to pass the CARE Act: Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, and Tennessee.
To access the conference call dial: 888-346-3659
Pass Code: 33688
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Aging Network Volunteer Collaborative
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Got an Hour? In Recognition of
Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the National Day of Service
Volunteers get involved when they are asked to help. The Got an Hour? Give it Back Campaign is an initiative created through the Aging Network Volunteer Collaborative. It assists agencies in the aging network to recruit volunteers that help strengthen their programs and work with seniors in their area.
On the National Day of Service, people throughout the country will be looking for opportunities to volunteer. The Got an Hour? Campaign encourages the aging network to post their programs, both in recognition of this national holiday and elsewise to VolunteerMatch.org. In doing so, those interested in volunteering will be able to find out your various programs that are offered to volunteer with seniors.
The Campaign's website GiveItBacktoSeniors.org
provides downloadable materials, webinars, and a search tool (powered by VolunteerMatch.org) to help your agency connect with prospective volunteers in your neighborhood.
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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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Post Volunteer Opportunities and Win!
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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Save the Date: CMS Webinar on HCBS Settings Final Rule
The final Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) regulations, published in the January 16 Federal Register, set forth new requirements for several Medicaid authorities under which states may provide home and community-based long-term services and supports. On January 23, CMS will host a webinar to discuss the new rule, and to answer any questions.
HCBS Final Rule Webinar
January 23, 2014
1:00-3:00 pm EST
1-877-267-1577
PIN: 993724826
If you are unable to participate on January 23, CMS will repeat the same webinar on January 30.
HCBS Final Rule Webinar (repeat)
January 30, 2014
1:00-3:00 pm EST
1-877-267-1577
PIN: 990895287
Click here for registration information, which will be posted soon.
Click here to access the final rule.
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CMS Announces Agenda for the Home Health, Hospice and Durable Medical Equipment/Quality Open Door Forum
The proposed agenda for the next Home Health, Hospice & Durable Medical Equipment (DME)/Quality Open Door Forum is scheduled for January 22, 2014, 2:00 p.m. This agenda is subject to change.
The Home Health, Hospice & Durable Medical Equipment Open Door Forum (ODF) addresses the concerns of three unique health care areas within the Medicare & Medicaid programs. Topics covered include issues related to Home Health Prospective Payment System (PPS), the newly proposed competitive bidding for DME and the Medicare
Hospice benefit.
Click here for more information and to review the agenda.
Dial 1-800-837-1935 Conference ID 71106560 if you wish to participate.
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CMS Updates Fact Sheet on Medicare & the Health Insurance Marketplace
CMS has updated The Medicare & the Health Insurance Marketplace Beneficiary Fact Sheet with additional questions and answers related to Medicare beneficiaries and the Marketplace. New topics covered include Medicare and Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance requirements, employer coverage, stand-alone dental plans, and how to get help paying for Medicare costs.
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CMS Releases Informational Bulletin on Strategies to Reduce Emergency Department Use
CMS released an informational bulletin on strategies entitled, Reducing Non-urgent Use of Emergency Departments and Improving Appropriate Care in Appropriate Settings. This was identified as a key area of need, because Medicaid beneficiaries use emergency departments for non-urgent needs at nearly twice the rate of privately insured beneficiaries. The bulletin summarizes strategies to deliver appropriate care in the most appropriate settings in two sections including:
- Part I: Three strategies to reduce emergency department use
- Part II: Differentiating emergency and non-emergency use of the emergency department
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Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Two Reports Released on the National Survey of Residential Care Facilities
The Office of The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) released two reports by RTI International with analysis from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)-ASPE 2010 National Survey of Residential Care Facilities. These reports examine the effects of residential care facilities on residents' economic and physical needs.
Click here to view the report entitled Do Services and Staffing in Residential Care Facilities Vary With Resident Needs?
Click here to view the report entitled Medicaid in Residential Care.
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Social Security Administration
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Social Security Announces New Compassionate Allowances Conditions
Carolyn W. Colvin, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, announced 25 new Compassionate Allowances conditions. The Compassionate Allowances program expedites disability decisions for Americans with the most serious disabilities to ensure that they receive their benefit decisions within days, instead of months or years. The new conditions also include disorders that affect the digestive, neurological, immune, and multiple body systems. Some of the new conditions include:
- Angiosarcoma
- Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor
- Chronic Idiopathic Intestinal Pseudo Obstruction
- Coffin- Lowry Syndrome
- Esthesioneuroblastoma
Acting Commissioner Colvin stated, "We are dedicated to providing vulnerable Americans with faster access to disability benefits through our Compassionate Allowances program. Social Security disability benefits are a vital lifeline for individuals who are facing severe diseases and we must ensure that they receive the benefits they rightly deserve."
Click here to learn more about the Compassionate Allowances program. |
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
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New Dialogue Quarterly Journal on Disaster Assistance: Mental Health Challenges
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) released their quarterly journal entitled, the Dialogue. This quarterly technical assistance publication focusses on behavioral health practiced during disasters, and is produced by SAMHSA's Disaster Technical Assistance Center (DTAC). Topics covered include:
- The Public and Mental Health Response to the Boston Marathon Bombing
- Traumatic Reminders: Overcoming What You Can't Erase From Experience
- Impact of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Louisiana
Click here to view the journal.
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Congress Passes FY14 Spending Package
On Monday night, Appropriations Chairmen Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) released a comprehensive spending plan, or omnibus, to fund the federal government for the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. The House and Senate voted to approve the plan late this week.
The measure adheres to the trillion-dollar spending cap set by December's budget deal, the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA, PL 113-67). The BBA 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.
For More Information:
Please see NASUAD's FY14 Budget Chart, which contains individual program funding levels key HHS programs, including the OAA.
Click here for the text of the omnibus.
Click here for the House Summary of the bill.
Click here for the Senate Summary of the bill.
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American Association on Aging
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2014 Leadership Institute
American Society on Aging's (ASA) Leadership Institute is a three-month leadership development intensive with various sessions between March 3, and the week of May 5, 2014. This opportunity is open to all professionals in the field of aging who have at least three years' experience and a strong interest in building personal leadership skills and capabilities. Program highlights include:
- Online web seminars and a leadership styles self-assessment
- An intercultural development personalized assessment
- Lectures by recognized leaders in the field of aging
- Facilitated dialogue and networking opportunities
- Leadership literature and options to enroll in a mentorship
Click here to register and to learn more about the leadership institute.
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Webinar: Training the Aging Services Field to Provide LGBT Culturally Competent Care
On January 21, 2014, 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET, the American Society on Aging (ASA) is presenting a webinar on the measurable impacts SAGE (Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders) has made in creating institutional changes with aging services providers of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender) older adults. Join this webinar to learn about SAGE's innovative plans to leverage available resources to scale up the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging's training and consumer education program to have broad, culture-changing impact.
Click here to register for the webinar.
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Alzheimer's Association Launches New Website
Developed with input from with people living with the disease, the Alzheimer's Association's launched I have Alzheimer's, a new 23-page web section on alz.org. I have Alzheimer's is designed to help empower those living in the early stage of the disease to move past the feeling of isolation that often comes with a diagnosis and on to planning, preparing, receiving support and living their best life after diagnosis.
The site provides valuable resources, personal insights and helps answers many questions including:
- How did others respond to their diagnosis?
- What should I expect as the disease progresses?
- How do I plan for the future?
- How do I live day-to-day?
- What resources are available through the Alzheimer's Association?
Click here to learn more about this comprehensive online resource.
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Association for Gerontology Education in Social Work
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| Opportunity for Social Work Doctoral Students
The Association for Gerontology Education in Social Work will provide support for a cohort of twelve social work doctoral students who have completed their first year of doctoral studies. The goal of this program is to support dissertation and career development in gerontological social work research and education.
Recipients will receive more than ten hours of programming delivered by nationally recognized experts in gerontological social work research and teaching, which is designed to prepare participants for an academic career in gerontological social work. The Program will be delivered at the 2014 Gerontological Society of America (GSA) conference in Washington, DC. Awardees will be selected by the AGESW Pre-Dissertation Advisory Council and multiple applicants from a given doctoral program may be selected.
Click here to learn more about pre-dissertation initiative.
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Independent Living Research Utilization
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Online Course: Choose, Get, Keep Integrated Housing
Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) is offering an online course to teach participants how to assist individuals who are transitioning out of nursing facilities, to access integrated, accessible, affordable housing in the community. Participants will be guided through the entire process of securing and relocating to housing, including planning a move, locating housing, and keeping the housing over the long term. The course will supply a number of checklists, fact sheets, and charts as tools. Course dates are February 17-March 7, 2014, with registration closing on January 31, 2014.
Click here to register for the online course.
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Financial Aid for Disabled Students
OnlineSchools.org has created an online scholarship guide for students with disabilities. It includes over 70 scholarships specifically for students with disabilities, thoroughly explaining eligibility, award amounts, and how to apply. The site also includes Financial Aid Guides for various specific populations such as soldiers, veterans, and their families; adults and working parents; students with disabilities; and minority students
Click here to view the guide.
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Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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Early Observations about Five State Marketplaces
Implementation of the health insurance marketplaces has been an ongoing challenge across the country in the initial months of open enrollment. While state marketplaces are still evolving, and some are experiencing their own implementation challenges, they are largely working. This brief, prepared by the team at Manatt Health Solutions, and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, looks at five state marketplaces to assess early lessons that might help to explain early enrollment trends.
Based on interviews with state leadership and review of publicly available documents, the report explores the early implementation experience in Kentucky, New York, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Washington.
Early lessons sited by each state are related to:
- Integrated eligibility and enrollment systems
- Being "nimble," i.e. responding quickly and decisively to day-to-day questions and "curve balls"
- Prioritizing critical functionality and deferring enhanced functionality
- Developing cohesive teams with clear lines of authority
- Maintaining connections to stakeholders on the ground
Click here to access the full report.
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Center for Medicare Advocacy First Annual National Voices of Medicare Summit and Senator Jay Rockefeller Lecture
The Center for Medicare Advocacy is holding its 1st Annual National Voices of Medicare Summit and Senator Jay Rockefeller Lecture on March 21, 2014, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Washington, DC. The summit will connect leading experts and advocates to discuss best practices, challenges and successes in efforts to improve health care, long term services and supports, and quality of life for older people and people with disabilities.
Click here for more information and to register for the summit.
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National Academy of Social Insurance 2014 Annual Policy Research Conference
The National Academy of Social Insurance is holding their 26th Annual Policy Research Conference, Strengthening the Web of Financial and Retirement Security for Today's Working Americans, from January 29-30 in Washington, DC. The conference will focus on strategies for enhancing individual security and serving the common good. Topics covered will include Social Security Disability Insurance; implications of Medicare's higher cost for current and future beneficiaries; and emerging transition issues as the Baby Boom generation becomes eligible for Medicare.
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NACCHO Fellowship Opportunity
The National Association of County and City Health Officers (NACCHO) is seeking applications for two paid graduate-level fellowships to join their Health and Disability Project. Fellows will work under the guidance of Health and Disability staff in Washington, DC, to help increase the number of states thoughtfully including disabilities into their public health promotion activities.
Click here for more information or to apply.
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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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