News

Chapel Ridge resident Paul Monjar celebrated his 106th birthday this week. Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, helped Monjar and his friends and family recognize the milestone at a party Thursday.

(New Holland, Pa.) — The Board of Directors for Garden Spot Communities and Frederick Living announce the affiliation of the two organizations. Garden Spot Communities and Frederick Living share a similar mission and values as faith-based, non-profit continuing care retirement communities.

(Newtown Square, Pa.) — Residents at White Horse Village are building momentum for their efforts to support the education of team members, awarding $53,888 in scholarships to 28 recipients for their studies this fall.

In a reminder to affordable housing providers sent on Aug. 14, HUD’s Multifamily Housing team emphasized existing rules around tenant organizing. Specifically, HUD reiterated that affordable housing communities subsidized through project-based Section 8, Section 202, and other HUD rental assistance programs are required to make community spaces available for meetings when requested by tenant organizations. Additional rules for tenant organizing in HUD-assisted Multifamily Housing, as well as information about a recent HUD funding opportunity to support capacity building of tenant organizations, is available here.

The HRSA Provider Relief Fund reporting portal is open right now for providers to submit their reports for Reporting Period 5 (RP5). RP5 reports cover PRF and ARP rural payments received between Jan. 1, 2022 and June 30, 2022. Keep in mind, these funds could be used for COVID-related expenses and lost revenues incurred between Jan. 1, 2020 and June 30, 2023. HRSA made an important change to the use of lost revenues for future reports after RP5. For reporting period 6 and beyond, providers will only be able to apply PRF and ARP rural funds to COVID-related lost revenues incurred up to June 30, 2023. Members are reminded that expenses and lost revenues are only allowable if they were connected to preventing, preparing for and/or responding to COVID-19. Some providers have recently had audit findings that identified unallowable costs. As there is no clear process currently for providers to correct previously filed PRF reports, these providers are being required to return some of their PRF funds. Watch tomorrow for an article with a few more details and resources on this topic.

CMS has provided extensive training on the Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting System. The agency offers all the training recordings, presentations, questions/answers, and other resources in this SNF QRP Training page. The August 23 SNF MDS 3.0 RAI v1.18.11 Guidance Training Program is now available within that page, including prerecorded webinars, virtual coding workshops and supplemental materials. The most recent additions are on Section GG: Functional Abilities and Goals Coding Workshop and Section D: Resident Mood Interview and Total Severity Score Coding Workshop.

LeadingAge PA continues to advocate for flexibility in meeting the new nursing facility staffing ratios and has been in conversation with the Department of Health (DOH) regarding the possibility for any exceptions that could be applied related to the new staffing ratios. DOH has asked if there are any providers currently self-limiting their census to stay within ratios (e.g., keeping census below a certain ratio threshold, despite having more beds available, to avoid needing an additional LPN or CNA on certain shifts). We need to hear from you if you are already doing this or considering taking this step. *** Please email Director of Regulatory Affairs Anna Warheit to share details about your situation (we will not disclose provider names to DOH, only anonymous examples of the challenges our members are facing) ***

LeadingAge PA was happy to help coordinate an opportunity to ensure our LIFE members’ voices were heard at a listening session on Aug. 23 focused on Pennsylvania’s development of a Master Plan for Older Adults. Representatives from the Department of Aging led the session, including Special Advisor to the Secretary, Kevin Hancock, who facilitated an informative and thoughtful conversation. Thank you to InnovAge for hosting and to the participants willing to share their personal experiences and concerns. We look forward to continuing this momentum to ensure Pennsylvania is best positioned to meet the needs of our growing older adult population, regardless of their age or stage of life.

HUD has increased its resources for communities to break down barriers to affordable housing. Tax policies, land use controls, zoning ordinances, building codes, fees and charges, and growth limits can each negatively impact a community’s ability to increase the supply of affordable housing. HUD has a bank of four webinars for affordable housing stakeholders to help identify and reduce or remove barriers. HUD has also issued a preview of an $85 million notice of funding opportunity for municipalities and other levels of government to proactively work to break down barriers to affordable housing. The grants, through a new Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) program funded in the fiscal year 2023 HUD appropriations bill, can also be used to address barriers such as a lack of community amenities and deteriorating infrastructure.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released 2021 data showing, “the number of elderly people with chronic patterns of homelessness increased by an alarming 73 percent” between 2019 and 2021. HUD also says that people are aging into chronic homelessness as well as experiencing homelessness for the first time when they are 65 or older. Nearly 10,000 more people aged 65 and older experienced sheltered homelessness in 2021 than in 2019. “While elderly people remain underrepresented among the sheltered population compared to the overall U.S. population, the increase in both the number and the share of the sheltered population that is elderly is concerning. A number of federal programs support elderly people, including housing programs targeted explicitly to that population, However, the increasing number of aging adults with chronic patterns of homelessness suggests that an expansion of resources is needed, including outreach and prevention efforts for aging adults at risk of housing insecurity,” the report says. Read the HUD report, the 2021 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress Part 2, here.

In partnership with other national hospice organizations, LeadingAge national submitted a pre-deadline comment on CMS’ proposal regarding the implementation of the hospice special focus program. This proposal is included in the CY2024 home health rule. LeadingAge national is supportive of the idea of a special focus program for hospice but are concerned that the algorithm proposed by CMS will not actually capture the poorest performing hospices. The letter outlines concerns regarding the algorithm and asks CMS to delay the program implementation in order to refine the algorithm and go through notice and comment rulemaking on a new version in future rulemaking. We also ask that providers be given a “preview year” where they can see where they would fall under the algorithm and both providers and CMS could see potential pitfalls with the methodology and smooth them out before going live. The letter can be found here.

A recent Office of the Inspector General (OIG) audit report estimates that the COVID-19 Uninsured Program (UIP), which was designed to reimburse providers for testing, treatment and ultimately COVID-19 vaccines for uninsured individuals, overpaid providers by $784 million for services provided between March 1 and December 31, 2020 based upon their review of a 300 randomly identified patients. The payments were deemed inappropriate because either the services was not delivered, was not related to COVID-19 or the recipient was insured. The Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) administered the program through March 22, 2022, when it ran out of funds. The program was funded by appropriations made to the Provider Relief Fund. OIG recommended HRSA recoup the identified overpayments. Most of these payments went to hospitals and physicians though all health care providers were eligible to receive payments for uninsured individuals served. Most older adults would have had those services covered via Medicare, Medicare Advantage or Medicaid. More OIG audit reports are expected related to use of COVID-19 funds.

OLTL sent out an announcement detailing the upcoming training programs offered by Northampton Community College for Fall 2023, all of which are provided at no cost to you. There are a variety of training topics being offered, including Staff Training, Morale, and Retention, Fire Safety Awareness, Active Threats Awareness and Response, and more. While most trainings continue to be offered online, the following courses will have limited in-person availability in Erie, Monroeville, and Altoona: Fire Safety Awareness for PCH- Train-the-Trainer Mental Health and Wellness Verbal De-Escalation Redirection Techniques Infection Control and Wound Care

The state Senate announced this week that it will return to session on Aug. 30 to begin finishing the final pieces of the 2023-2024 state budget. While the general appropriation bill was signed into law on Aug. 3, the PA General Assembly has yet to pass coinciding code bills that carry out the state spending plan. Following this step, there should be more clarity around budget funding and efforts to mitigate nursing facility rate volatility. The House is not scheduled to return until Sept. 26. We continue to press for funding details through our ongoing advocacy conversations with the legislative and executive branches and will update our members once we have more information to share. In the meantime, please reach out to Legislative Affairs Director Austin Cawley if you have any questions or would like to meet with your state lawmaker or have them tour your community.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and CMS are hosting a virtual event focused on patient access to health data on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 12-5 p.m. The event will bring together patients, providers, payers, and health IT developers to discuss how HHS policies are working in practice and how to maximize the impact of these policies. The event will also highlight educational tools and resources, such as patient-facing apps that enable the availability of patient information and make that health information easier to understand. A Registration link to this virtual event can be found here. If you are interested in sharing a patient experience with accessing and using patient data, please use the Health IT Inquiry and Feedback Portal at https://www.healthit.gov/feedback.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is developing a new Master Plan for Older Adults to address the needs of older people and people with disabilities. The Department of Aging (PDA) is asking for feedback through this survey to assist in the development of the new Master Plan and capture the experience of older adults and adults with disabilities. There is also space at the end of the survey to share other suggestions or issues you find important. The survey will be open until Sept. 30. More information about the Master Plan for Older Adults can be found on the Pennsylvania Department of Aging website. Click here for the Department's informational flyer. o LeadingAge PA will be sharing talking points in the near future to guide your comments and encourages you to share your comments with Director of Regulatory Affairs Anna Warheit as we prepare our own submission. LeadingAge PA also sits on the department’s Long-Term Care Council and will play an active role in helping to craft the plan as this effort unfolds. The PDA has also been hosting virtual listening sessions throughout August to present an overview of the Master Plan for Older Adults and collect feedback across the state. The final virtual listening session will be held on Friday, Aug. 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. (register here): o The Area Agencies on Aging and the Centers for Independent Living will also host in-person listening sessions in all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties where the public can learn about the plan and submit input. The Department has created a list of these sessions organized by county on its website. This list will be updated as more sessions are scheduled.

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (Aug. 24, 2023) — LeadingAge PA, the leading voice for senior services across Pennsylvania, today announced it has awarded 33 scholarships totaling nearly $40,000 through its 2023 Professional Development Scholarship program.

Skilled nursing

MECHANICSBURG, Pa — Messiah Lifeways has announced that they have selected Culinesse, LLC, a boutique hospitality brand, as their new culinary management partner. This search was prompted by Messiah Lifeways’ desire to enhance its current culinary experience and deliver innovative dining and hospitality throughout its continuum of care, in alignment with senior living trends and its mission of serving older adults with Christ-like love.