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January 29, 2019
Abuse Prevention and Response
Recent news stories about the sexual assault of a resident in a long-term care facility in Arizona has highlighted the need for education, advocacy, and action around preventing abuse of vulnerable individuals. In a segment on CBS This Morning, Consumer Voice Executive Director Lori Smetanka called for further protections of residents and oversight of long-term care facility staff.
The Consumer Voice has several resources that include important information about abuse prevention, abuse reporting, and protection of individual rights, including:
Take Action - What can you do?
- Share Consumer Voice’s resources about abuse prevention with family, friends, and colleagues.
- Connect with others through resident and family councils, or citizen advocacy groups.
- Know your rights and the warning signs of abuse.
- Report concerns to the administration and appropriate authorities.
- Get to know your Long-Term Care Ombudsman.
- Become a member and donate in order to support Consumer Voice advocacy.
For more information, go to www.theconsumervoice.org, or contact info@theconsumervoice.org.
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Money Follows the Person Program Funded for Three Months
On January 24, the Medicaid Extenders Act which contains provisions to continue funding the Money Follows the Person program (MFP), was signed into law. The Act provides $112 million in funding for MFP for three months. To be eligible to receive funds, a state must have had an active program as of December 31, 2018. States will have until September 31, 2019 to spend the money. While advocates wanted a longer extension, the three month time period keeps the program alive and gives Congress the opportunity to develop more lasting solutions.
We hope you will join us in celebrating this victory – despite its short-term nature. Consumer Voice thanks everyone who contacted their members of Congress asking them to extend MFP. We couldn’t have accomplished this without your advocacy, and the advocacy of aging and disability groups across the country!
But our work is not done. Efforts are already underway to determine the best strategies to maintain this important program. Consumer Voice will keep you updated on what actions to take and when. In the meantime, we suggest letting your members of Congress know how pleased you are that the Act passed and urging them to find ways during this session to continue its funding.
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Congressman Sends Letter to CMS About Overuse of Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes
Congressman Richard E. Neal (Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means) sent a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma regarding his continued concern about the overuse of antipsychotics in nursing homes. Congressman Neal expressed his disappointment in CMS's data from the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care. He noted that while the data indicates progress in decreasing the prescribing of antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes, the progress has slowed. Also, he expressed concern that the demonstrated "improvement" comes from nursing homes falsifying diagnoses. He emphasized that inappropriate prescribing of antipsychotics to nursing home residents is still a major problem. Read the full letter here.
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Revised National Ombudsman Reporting System (NORS) Training Five-Part Webinar Series
Join the National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center (NORC) Tuesday, February 5 at 3:00pm ET for "Introduction to the Revised NORS," the first webinar in the five-part series on the revised National Ombudsman Reporting System (NORS) training materials created by NORC. State Ombudsman programs submit data regarding program activities to the Administration for Community Living (ACL)/Administration on Aging (AoA), using the codes, definitions, and activities outlined in the instructions for the National Ombudsman Reporting Systems (NORS). The data has been collected since 1996 and this is the first comprehensive revision. The revised NORS data collection is effective October 1, 2019. The purpose of this webinar series is to introduce the new training materials to help programs prepare for the transition to new codes, definitions, and activities on October 1, 2019. The first webinar will introduce the revised new NORS data collection and the following four webinars will cover each part of the revised four-part training. Participants only need to register once to attend all five webinars.
- Introduction to the Revised NORS February 5, 2019 3:00 – 4:30 ET
- Part I: Case, Complaint, Complainant and Information and Assistance February 27, 2019 3:00 – 4:30 ET
- Part II: Coding Complaints March 19, 2019 3:00 – 4:30 ET
- Part III: Closing the Case – Verification, Referral, and Disposition April 30, 2019 3:00 – 4:30 ET
- Part IV: Activities May 29, 2019 3:00 – 4:30 ET
Register here.
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New Process in Massachusetts for Informing Consumers About Services in Assisted Living
Massachusetts has recently implemented a new process to reduce physical, emotional and financial harm to assisted living residents. Effective January 1, 2019, all Residency Agreements between an Assisted Living Residence and a resident are required to include a signed and initialed copy of a form with information about care, staffing, residency and cost. The form acknowledges that the resident or resident's legal representative has read the specified information and was given an opportunity to ask questions. It is meant to decrease misunderstandings associated with services and costs by highlighting those specific areas prior to signing a Residency Agreement. This form was put in place after advocacy by the Long-Term Care Residents Rights Committee (LTRRC) of MassNAELA (National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys).
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Spotlight on Resources
 Consumer Voice and the National Ombudsman Resource Center have a multitude of resources available online covering a wide range of long-term care topics. Visit the Consumer Voice and NORC websites to explore all the available resources. Check out this week's highlighted resource:
Consumer Fact Sheet: How to Prevent, Detect and Report Financial Exploitation in Nursing Homes
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In this Issue
Abuse Prevention and Response
Money Follows the Person Program Funded for Three Months
Congressman Sends Letter to CMS About Overuse of Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes
Revised National Ombudsman Reporting System (NORS) Training Five-Part Webinar Series
New Process in Massachusetts for Informing Consumers About Services in Assisted Living
Spotlight on Resources
Calendar of Events
Tuesday, February 5: Introduction to the Revised NORS Webinar, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. ET, Hosted by NORC and ACL.
Tuesday, March 12: Traumatic Brain Injury Stakeholder Day, Hosted by ACL in Washington, DC, RSVP to NCAPPS@acl.hhs.gov
November 3-6, 2019: Consumer Voice Annual Conference, Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, Virginia
Join the conversation and follow us on social media!
Last Week's Most Popular Post:
Thursday, January 24:
In a segment on CBS This Morning, Consumer Voice Executive Director Lori Smetanka called for further protections of residents and oversight of nursing home staff.
Last Week's Most Popular Tweet:
Friday, January 18:
CNN reported this morning about a 29-year old woman in a vegetative state who gave birth to a child last December in an Arizona facility.
Long-Term Care Resources & News
Read past issues of The Voice here.
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