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October 25, 2016

Recording Available for Webinar on Revised Nursing Home Regulations

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) just released its revised nursing home regulations. These regulations are dramatically different from the previous regulations, and will impact the lives and care of nursing home residents for years to come. Consumers and advocates alike need to know what is new and what has remained the same.

The recording and slides are now available from our recent webinar on the topic.  Hear CMS provide an overview of the revised rule and experts from the Center for Medicare Advocacy, Justice in Aging and Consumer Voice discuss changes in key areas.  Topics covered included staffing, arbitration, admission/transfer-discharge/readmission, and more.

Presenters:

  • Karen Tritz, Director, Division of Nursing Homes,Survey and Certification Group, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
  • Eric Carlson, Directing Attorney, Justice in Aging
  • Toby Edelman, Senior Policy Attorney, Center for Medicare Advocacy
  • Robyn Grant, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, Consumer Voice

Get the recording and slides here.

Delve deeper into these issues and find more information about the revised regulations on our website.

  • On September 29, Consumer Voice, along with Justice in Aging and the Center for Medicare Advocacy, created a summary of the regulations, including positive and negative effects for nursing home residents.  Read the summary here.
  • On October 1, Consumer Voice issued a statement commending CMS for banning the use of pre-dispute arbitration clauses in nursing home admissions contracts.  Read the statement here.
  • Join Consumer Voice's Action Network.  The Action Network, which is free, will keep you up-to-date on the latest long-term care policy developments and opportunities for action. You can sign up for our Action Network by clicking here.
  • Support Consumer Voice by becoming a member.  Members receive benefits like 10% off our online store of valuable resources, discounted rates for our annual conference and information about upcoming training opportunities.  Learn more here.
Thanks again to those who joined us; we hope to see you again at future webinars!

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We Need Examples of Subpar HCBS Service Plans

All Medicaid HCBS should be based on a person-centered service plan.  Unfortunately, many HCBS service plans are not as person-centered as they should be.
 
We want to demonstrate to CMS, and to others, that current HCBS service planning is falling far short of the person-centeredness required by federal regulations.  Please send us examples of HCBS service plans that demonstrate problems.  Of course, please black out or otherwise redact any beneficiary-identifying information.
 
Some of these HCBS service plans apply to congregate residential services, such as assisted living services or services in a group home.  Others apply to day services, or services provided in a beneficiary’s home.  For our purposes, the most useful service plans are likely to be those for services provided in a congregate residence or in a day center.
 
Here are examples of information that would be useful:

  • Service plans that use identical language (or almost identical language) for different persons.  (Of course, we would need service plans from at least two persons to demonstrate this.)
  • Service plans that use generic, medicalized terminology to describe the person’s situation and the services to be provided.  For example, this plan: “Monitor pain levels and intervene with appropriate meds and/or activities to support comfort.”
  • Service plans that are overly focused on problems and interventions, and seem to be ignoring individual preferences and integration with the community.

We are looking for service plans that authorize Medicaid HCBS, not the service plans developed separately by a service provider.  If, however, in your state, the service provider is developing the Medicaid service plan, please feel free to share those plans with us.
 
Please send any examples to Robyn Grant at rgrant@theconsumervoice.org.

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Court of Appeals Rules Against Retroactive Coverage for Medicaid Assisted Living Services

The federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld an Ohio Medicaid policy which delays the start date of Medicaid assisted living services until the date on which a Medicaid service plan is approved.  In Price v. Medicaid Director, two women lived in assisted living facilities and originally paid privately and applied for Medicaid assisted living coverage.  The Ohio Medicaid program granted coverage effective on the date of service plan approval, weeks after the women's Medicaid eligibility was clear.  The delay in coverage meant the residents had to pay thousands of dollars of assisted living bills.  The Sixth Court's ruling overturned trial court fiindings that Ohio Medicaid was obligated to provide retroactive coverage for all assisted living services, including those provided before service plan approval.  The issue in Ohio, as well as in many other states, is a federal policy that delays the coverage start date until the date of service plan approval.  The Medicaid Act's general rule states that coverage can begin up to three months prior to the date of application.  If the Ohio women lived in nursing facilities instead of assisted living, they would have not had a gap in their coverage.

For more information, read the article from McKnight's Senior Living or contact Justice in Aging.

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Webinar from n4a on Benefits of Volunteering

Join n4a for a webinar on Wednesday, October 26th at 2:00pm ET on "Health Benefits of Volunteering."  n4a recently launched a national campaign featuring the consumer brochure "Doing Good is Good for You - Volunteer!" and a toolkit to help Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) spread the word in their communities to bolster their volunteer recruitment efforts.  The webinar will feature a nationally renowned initiative in the Silicon Valley, in which older adults suffering from anxiety and depression are “prescribed volunteering," to improve their health. It will also highlight an AAA in Atlanta that measured the impact of their volunteer program.  Register for the webinar here.

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Senior Care Company Under Investigation After Urging Residents to Vote on Ballot Measure

Brookdale, a senior care company in Oregon, is under investigation after sending its residents a letter urging them to oppose a ballot measure.  Measure 97 would increase taxes on companies with more than $25 million in annual sales.  The Oregon State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program and Disability Rights Oregon notified the Secretary of State that the company may have violated a state law against exerting undue influece over how a person votes.  The letter to residents suggested that if the meausre was to pass, Brookdale's services could become more expensive.  The letter also include a sample "letter to the editor" about how Measure 97 could be bad for seniors and asked residents to send the letter to their local paper.

For more information, read the article in OPB.

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Spotlight on Educational Resources

The Consumer Voice and the National Ombudsman Resource Center (NORC) have a multitude of resources available online covering a wide range of long-term care topics.  Visit the Consumer Voice website and the NORC website to explore all the available resources.  Take a look at this week's highlighted resource:

Promising Practices for Accessible Voting in the 2016 Presidential Election - A review of successful practices during the 2012 election, plus tips for practices to incorporate this year.

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In this Issue

Recording Available for Webinar on Revised Nursing Home Regulations

We Need Examples of Subpar HCBS Service Plans

Court of Appeals Rules Against Retroactive Coverage for Medicaid Assisted Living Services

Webinar from n4a on Benefits of Volunteering

Senior Care Company Under Investigation After Urging Residents to Vote on Ballot Measure


Spotlight on Educational Resources


Combined Federal Campaign

#10552

Thank you for your support!


Calendar of Events

October: My Vote Matters, Residents' Rights Month 2016

Wednesday, October 26: New Campaign Focuses on Health Benefits of Volunteering & Gives Your Recruitement Efforts a Boost, 2:00pm ET, Webinar from n4a

November 2-5, 2016: Consumer Voice 40th Annual Conference, Arlington, VA


Join the conversation and follow us on social media!

Last Week's Most Popular Post:

Friday, October 21:
The American Health Care Association is suing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services over the new arbitration regulation included in the recently announced revised nursing facility regulations.

Last Week's Most Popular Tweet:

 
Tuesday, October 18
:
Brochure from @n4aACTION on the health benefits of volunteering for older adults


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The Voice is a weekly e-newsletter, published by the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care. If you do not wish to continue receiving this publication, please unsubscribe below. Your contributions and comments are welcome and should be sent to info@theconsumervoice.org. Copyright © 2016.

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