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February 12, 2013
Connecticut Statewide Coalition of Presidents of Resident Councils Advocacy
Connecticut’s Statewide Coalition of Presidents of Resident Councils, consisting of seven nursing home residents from throughout the state and working with the Connecticut Ombudsman Program, began advocating on several topics in early January. Representing all 26,000 nursing home residents in the state, the Coalition of Presidents of Resident Councils started by putting a seven item legislative agenda in all 187 legislators’ mail boxes. In late January, the Connecticut Committee on Aging put forth legislation for five of the seven items: raising the personal need allowance (PNA), fear of retaliation training in nursing homes, grievance committees in all nursing homes, safe and comfortable temperatures in nursing homes, and notification to nursing home owners that they can be held liable for abuse and neglect.
In early February, two residents from the Coalition met with a senator in hopes of changing Connecticut’s nursing home staffing law; negotiations continue with both sides of the aisle in the hopes of getting a bill into the system. Two residents also made it to the state capital to testify in front of the Aging Committee with the state ombudsman about the need to 1) restore a $9 cut to the personal needs allowance that was made in the 2011 budget cycle, and 2) give nursing home residents the same cost of living adjustments that all Social Security recipients have received in the past two years. As the legislative session moves forward, the Coalition will be looking for additional opportunities to testify in front of committees and speak to lawmakers about passage of these bills.
Source: Brian Capshaw
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Janet Wells and Charlene Harrington Publish Report on the Implementation of the Affordable Care Act
Long-term care consultant and former Consumer Voice staff member Janet Wells and former Consumer Voice Leadership Council member Charlene Harrington from the University of California, San Francisco authored a publication for the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured entitled “Implementation of Affordable Care Act Provisions to Improve Nursing Home Transparency, Care Quality and Abuse Prevention.” This issue paper describes the new ACA requirements, explains the background for their inclusion in the law, and outlines the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid's progress in implementing them to date.
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NASUAD Accepting Entries for 2013 Volunteers Matter Awards
The National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD) is now accepting entries for its 2013 Volunteers Matter: Excellence in Volunteer Services Awards. The award is meant to highlight successful state-run programs that are leading the way in the creative use of volunteers in the long-term services and supports network. Winners will receive a cash prize to be used to strengthen the winning volunteer program, an all-expenses paid trip to the 2013 HCBS Conference in Washington, DC, and a NASUAD press release highlighting the program. Submissions will be accepted from now through May 30, 2013.
Submit your organization’s entry for this award. See descriptions of the winning programs from 2012.
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NAB Announces Professional Practice Analysis
The National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards (NAB) announces the launch of a professional practice analysis to identify the domains of practice, tasks performed, and knowledge and skills used by individuals responsible for leadership in organizations that provide long-term care supports and services. The practice analysis will center around a task force charged with delineating the domains of practice, skills, knowledge and tasks that constitute the core competencies for all long term care administrators.
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ACL Holding Webinar on Managed LTSS
The Administration for Community Living (ACL) is continuing its webinar series on the Affordable Care Act with a webinar entitled “Managed Long-Term Services and Supports: Measuring Outcomes.” This webinar will examine core principles and criteria for selecting measures, possible data sources, and methods for building infrastructure capacity to monitor the quality of managed long-term services and supports.
Managed Long-Term Services and Supports: Measuring Outcomes
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
3:00pm EST
Article in the Wall Street Journal on Bringing the Hospital Home
To keep patients out of the hospital, healthcare providers are visiting and treating patients at home. In addition to doctors treating patients at home, some insurers and health systems are sending teams of doctors, nurses, and pharmacists into homes to monitor and treat patients. In large part, the aim is to avoid new financial penalties from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as the agency has started withholding some payments to hospitals with higher readmission rates. There is also growing pressure to keep patients from being admitted to the hospital in the first place since they can be vulnerable to infections and complications in the hospital.
For more information, read the article in the Wall Street Journal.
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Protect the Elderly from Dangerous Bed Rails
THANK YOU to those individuals and groups who have signed our petition which calls for safety standards for adult bed rails. Haven’t signed yet? Please take the time to do so today by clicking here. We have a goal of 1,000 signatures and we need your help to reach that goal!
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About The Gazette
The Gazette is a weekly e-newsletter, published by the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care and the National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center. If you do not wish to continue receiving this publication, please unsubscribe. Your contributions and comments are welcome and should be sent to swells@theconsumervoice.org. Copyright © 2013.
The Consumer Voice is the leading national voice representing consumers in issues related to long-term care, helping to ensure that consumers are empowered to advocate for themselves. We are a primary source of information and tools for consumers, families, caregivers, advocates and ombudsmen to help ensure quality care for the individual. The Consumer Voice's mission is to represent consumers at the national level for quality long-term care, services and supports.
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