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Save the Date!
30th Annual National HCBS Conference
September 15-18, 2014
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Health Insurance Marketplace Deadline - March 31
Individuals without insurance have until March 31, 2014 to purchase coverage in the Health Insurance Marketplace during the initial enrollment period. After March 31, these individuals will have to wait until the next enrollment period from November 15, 2014 to January 15, 2015.
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Call for Sessions Due March 31 - 30th Annual HCBS Conference
The National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD) announced the Call For Sessions for the 30th Annual National Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Conference on September 15-18, 2014 in Arlington, VA. The conference offers a blend of policy, program and practice issues for professionals interested in home and community-based waivers and services for all ages and abilities. Last year's conference had a strong presence from the agencies of the US Department of Health and Human Services including Administration for Community Living (ACL) and Administration on Aging (AoA). Proposals are currently being accepted for workshops and the due date is March 31, 2014.
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National Information and Referral Support Center
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Webinar: 2-1-1s and Aging and Disability Resource Centers: Partnership Successes and Challenges
On April 3, 2014, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, join AIRS and the National Information and Referral Support Center in a webinar on partnerships between 2-1-1 agencies and Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs). Presenters will review general information about 2-1-1 organizations and ADRCs, and highlight both successes and challenges they have faced in pursuing partnerships between the two types of organizations. Presenters include Lisa Clark, 2-1-1 Manager, Brown County United Way; Devon Christianson, Director, ADRC of Brown County; Jim Macgill, Executive Director, 2-1-1 Maryland, Inc.; Mary Ellen Mendl, Director, Vermont 2-1-1/ United Ways of Vermont; and Sara Tribe, Director of the National I&R Support Center, NASUAD.
Click here to register for the webinar (registration is required). After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
This webinar is only available via the Internet. There will be no telephone connection. If you have a computer that can play the audio on a YouTube video, you should be able to access this webinar.
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Aging Network Volunteer Collaborative
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Got an Hour? New Materials Available to Download or Order
The"Got an Hour?" Campaign is designed to help local agencies attract volunteers to programs that work with seniors. The Campaign has developed a series of new postcard to advertise volunteer opportunities that are posted on the giveitbacktoseniors.org website. These exciting postcards can be downloaded from the website, or ordered through the store for free. The site also includes a template for a press release and a template letter to elected officials which can be used to promote volunteer activities.
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Register Today: PowerUP! Training Institute in Santa Ana, CA
The PowerUP! Program is bringing a Training Institute to Santa Ana, California. These institute will train your organization to form Self-Directed Volunteer Teams™, using a research-based framework. These volunteers carry out projects that extend your capacity to serve older adults.
Training involves:
- One or more executive leadership staff (web training, date and time TBA)
- One or more key staff (web training, date and time TBA)
- Two to three lead volunteers (in-person training, April 3-4, 2014, Council on Aging - Orange County, Santa Ana, CA. See details and enroll.
Learn more about the Training Institute with the PowerUP!Training Institute. Click here for an Online Tutorial on trainings developed for self-directed volunteer teams.
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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Press Release: Medicare Donut Hole and Preventive Services
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a press statement on the Medicare Donut Hole and Preventive Services. The press statement
showed that many seniors and people with disabilities with Medicare had lower costs on prescription drugs and improved benefits in 2013.
Since enactment of the Affordable Care Act, 7.9 million seniors and people with disabilities have saved $9.9 billion on prescription drugs, for an average of $1,265 per beneficiary. In 2013 alone, 4.3 million seniors and people with disabilities saved $3.9 billion, for an average of $911 per beneficiary. According to the press statement, these figures are higher than in 2012, when 3.5 million beneficiaries saved $2.5 billion, for an average of $706 per beneficiary.
The press statement also described the expanded use of preventive services among people with Medicare. In 2013, an estimated 37.2 million people with Medicare took advantage of at least one preventive service with no cost sharing, including an estimated 26.5 million people with traditional Medicare, and more than 4 million who took advantage of the Annual Wellness Visit. According to the press statement, this exceeds the comparable figure from 2012, when an estimated 34.1 million people with Medicare, including 26.1 million with traditional Medicare, received one or more preventive benefits with no out of pocket costs.
Click here to view the entire CMS Preventive Services/Donut Press Release.
Click here to view the CMS Medicare Advantage Fact Sheet on the Affordable Care Act and Medicare.
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New Guidance on FLSA's application to Shared Living Arrangements
On October 1, 2013, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a Final Rule extending minimum wage and overtime pay protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to direct care workers providing home based care to older adults and people with disabilities. DOL received many questions regarding how the rule would affect shared living arrangements such as adult foster care, host home, and paid roommates, where the person receiving services and their direct care worker live together. On March 27, 2014, DOL published an Administrator's Interpretation and fact sheet providing guidance on how FLSA applies to various shared living arrangements.
Click here to access the Fact Sheet.
Click here to access the Administrator's Interpretation.
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Health and Human Services
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Observing LGBT Health Awareness Week
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently released a statement about observing LGBT Health Awareness Week. According to Secretary Sebelius, LGBT Health Awareness Week is an important time to bring attention to the unique health needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans, and to highlight the progress HHS has made in their work to ensure LGBT Americans have the same rights and protections as other Americans, especially through implementation of the Affordable Care Act. On average, LGBT Americans suffer from higher rates of cancer, obesity, HIV/AIDS and mental illness than the rest of the nation. For those with chronic conditions such as HIV/AIDS, the Affordable Care Act helps to avoid dollar caps on annual and lifetime coverage that leads to significant costs and debt. Also, people cannot be denied coverage based on their health history, and legally married couples are treated equally when it comes to coverage or financial assistance, no matter who they are married to.
Click here to view the news release.
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Social Security Administration
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SSA Launches New Expedited Disability Process for Veterans
Carolyn W. Colvin, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, announced the launch of a new disability process to expedite disability claims filed by veterans with a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation rating of 100% Permanent & Total (P&T). Under the new process, SSA will treat these veterans' applications as high priority and issue expedited decisions, similar to the way the agency currently handles disability claims from Wounded Warriors. In order to receive the expedited service, veterans must tell SSA they have a VA disability compensation rating of 100% P&T and show proof of their disability rating with their VA Notification Letter.
Click here for information about this service.
Click here for more information about Social Security's handling of Wounded Warrior's disability claims. |
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2014 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures - Burden on Women
The Alzheimer's Association has released the 2014 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report. This new report describes the impact of Alzheimer's disease including new information on growing death rates, the cost of the disease and the disproportionate burden of Alzheimer's disease on women. The report shows that women age 65 and older are almost twice as likely as their male peers to develop Alzheimer's disease. The report also shows that women are much more likely to develop Alzheimer's than breast cancer and there are 2.5 times more women than men acting as caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimer's.
Click here to download the report.
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American Association on Health and Disability
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Five New Fact Sheets for the National Disability Navigator Resource Collaborative
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ARCH National Respite Network
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Call for Presentations Due April 11: 2014 National Lifespan Respite Conference
The ARCH National Respite Network, in collaboration with the Tennessee Respite Coalition, will host the 2014 National Lifespan Respite Conference in Nashville, TN on
October 7-9, 2014, at the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. Participants are invited you to submit a proposal for a breakout session on any aspect of planned or emergency respite service delivery, access, research, evaluation, best practices or innovation. The conference theme, Get in Tune with Respite, reflects the great musical city of Nashville and challenges conference attendees to learn and share how respite can create harmony for families in caregiving situations. The Call for Presentations is now open and proposals for breakout sessions are being accepted. The deadline for submissions is now April 11, 2014.
Click here to download the Call for Presentations and complete the Presenter Application Form online.
Click here for more information on the conference.
Click here to contact the TN Respite Coalition.
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Government Report Finds One-Third of Nursing Home Residents Experience Harm: Consumer Voice Calls for More Staff
The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care (Consumer Voice) is calling for minimum nursing home staffing standards in response to a recently released Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) report, Adverse Events in Skilled Nursing Facilities: National Incidence Among Medicare Beneficiaries. The OIG report found that one third of skilled nursing home residents are being harmed, and in some cases, even dying, as a result of adverse or temporary harm events. These include falls, infections, and pressure ulcers, among others.
According to Robyn Grant, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy for the Consumer Voice, providing care, treatment and monitoring of residents are all nursing duties. Grant stated that poor and often tragic outcomes result when there are insufficient numbers of registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and certified nursing assistants (CNAs).
The Consumer Voice acknowledges the OIG recommendations and adds that strengthening staff education and inspections is important. The Consumer Voice also recognizes that low staffing levels are the single most important contributor to poor quality of nursing home care in the United States. The Consumer Voice calls on federal legislators to pass a law requiring minimum staffing standards in nursing homes.
Click here to view the Consumer Voice press statement.
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Webinar: Evaluation and Management of Pain in Persons with Dementia
The Copper Ridge Institute in affiliation with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is holding a webinar entitled, Evaluation and Management of Pain in Persons with Dementia, on April 2, 2014, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. The webinar will discuss evaluation and management of pain in persons with dementia. Continuing education credit is available for many professionals.
At the end of the webinar, the participants will be able to:
- Identify behaviors that might indicate that a person with dementia is suffering from physical pain
- Utilize scales to assess pain in persons with moderate to severe dementia
- Describe a rational pharmacologic treatment approach to the management of pain
- Discuss various non-pharmacologic interventions to reduce pain and promote emotional well being
Click here to register for single viewing.
Click here to register for multiple viewing.
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National Council on Aging
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New Toll-Free Number for Reverse Mortgage Counseling
The National Council on Aging (NCOA) has announced a new national toll-free number for older homeowners to sign up for counseling when considering a reverse mortgage: 1-855-899-3778. Federal law requires that anyone considering the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Home Equity Conversation Mortgage must receive counseling from a government-approved agency like NCOA. NCOA counselors do not sell any products and the counselors work with seniors to weigh the pros and cons of a reverse mortgage to decide if it's right for their situation.
Click here for more information on the toll-free number.
Click here to see how to schedule a session.
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National Senior Citizens Law Center
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Webinar: Nursing Home Admissions Agreements: A Discussion of the Unfair Terms in the Agreements
Presented to Elders on Entering a Nursing Home
The National Senior Citizens Law Center is holding a free webinar on April 2, 2014 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm ET. This webinar will focus on nursing home admissions agreements, identifying the terms that elders and their advocates should be most wary of and explaining the protections that some states afford against enforcement of some of these terms. The webinar will also focus on arbitration clauses, attempts to hold family members liable for a resident's bills, purported waivers of a facility's liability, and improper grounds for eviction.
Click here to register for the webinar.
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Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement
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Financial Steps for Caregivers
The Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement has released a new publication entitled, Financial Steps for Caregivers. This 26-page guide addresses an aspect of caregiving that is often overlooked: the caregiver's own financial security. Studies show that caregivers forgo more than $300,000 in lost wages and reduced Social Security and pension benefits. The publication offers tips on budgeting, saving for retirement, personal care agreements, identifying financial fraud and abuse, sources of financial help for the caregiver and the care recipient, end-of-life planning, and more.
Click here to view the publication.
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Group Discount : 2014 Consumer Voice Annual Conference
Participants interested in bringing a group of people to the 2014 Consumer Voice Annual Conference from November 15-19, 2014 in Arlington, VA can take advantage of the group discounts. Discounts must be applied for prior to registration, so participants should start forming their group in advance. Registration will open early April.
The discount code will apply to the current registration rate at the time individuals in the group complete the registration form.
Group discounts apply to full conference attendees only. .
2014 Group Discounts:
- Group of 5 - 9 individuals - 5% discount
- Group of 10 - 19 individuals - 10% discount
- Group of 20 or more individuals - 15% discount
Click here to receive updates on registration and conference agenda details. For the group discount, s end the list of individuals you would like to include in your group as well as the name of your group to info@theconsumervoice.org, and we will send you the applicable group rate code to use during registration.
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Project Rental Assistance Program
Full Title: Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Program
Issuing Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Eligible Applicants: Any housing agency allocating Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) under Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Service Code of 1986 or any state housing or state community development agency allocating and overseeing assistance under the HOME Investment Partnerships Act (HOME).
Funding Level: $120,000,000
Closing Date: May 5, 2014
Funding Opportunity Number: FR-5700-N-28N/A
CFDA Number: 14.326
Description: This Funding Opportunity seeks to identify, stimulate, and support sustaining state approaches that will transform the provision of housing for persons with disabilities while providing access to appropriate supports and services. The Section 811 PRA program will support successful and promising state partnership models that have been developed to increase the number of permanent housing units for persons with disabilities with access to appropriate services.
Click here for more information on this grant opportunity.
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