News

On Monday, LeadingAge and the American Health Care Association (AHCA) released a federal legislative proposal designed to allow the nursing home sector to make key changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these issues were evident for years before COVID-19 but were never fully addressed by policymakers. Through the Care For Our Seniors Act, AHCA and LeadingAge are calling on lawmakers once again to help resolve systemic challenges, as well as reflecting on ways nursing home providers themselves can improve.

In response to an evaluation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG), CMS stated last week that it will continue working to publicly report on nurse staff turnover and tenure, as required by federal law.

HUD is overhauling physical inspections and you have the chance to weigh in. LeadingAge, our national partner, is urging HUD to maintain a robust yet feasible approach to portfolio oversight. Using an easy online form, you can help us urge HUD to streamline the process while incentivizing well-performing properties. Add your voice in support of LeadingAge comments to HUD and customize your comments with a brief description of your community by March 15.

The Senate has finally released the complete version of the American Rescue Plan passed on Saturday, and the bill has now gone to the House. It is expected that the House will vote on that bill today – and passage is expected – so the President can sign the bill into law by the end of the week. Because this legislation will provide the State with additional financial support, we are optimistic that its passage will support our advocacy work at the state level to support a Hero Pay Bonus for all caregivers in congregate care settings during the pandemic. 

Federal lawmakers continue to move forward with a COVID-10 response package. Last weekend, the House passed the $1.9 trillion package and now the legislation is being considered in the Senate.
While the current package includes investments in infection control teams for care centers and an enhanced Medicaid match for HCBS Waivers, it fails to provide to the existing Provider Relief Fund.

Our partners at LeadingAge Housing Advisory Group now have five Workgroups to share information among members, to improve programs, and to inform LeadingAge advocacy to HUD and to Congress.

On February 19, HUD opened the application period for Calendar Year 2021 (CY21) Service Coordinator program renewals in GrantSolutions. Under a compressed timeline for the delayed grant renewals, applications are due by March 22, with disbursements projected for June or July.

Under CMS emergency preparedness regulations, nursing facilities are required to conduct two emergency preparedness testing exercises annually – with exercises alternating between full-scale functional exercises and exercises of choice (mock drill, table-top exercise, workshop). 

The CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) team will offer trainings to review updates to the LTCF COVID-19 Module, Resident Impact & Facility Capacity Pathway, that took effect in late November 2020.

Congress is now in the process of considering the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package proposed by President Biden. This legislation, being considered through a budget-reconciliation vehicle that only needs simple majorities in both the House and the Senate and may be passed exclusively with Democratic-votes.

We noted two newsworthy items from CDC this week relating to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) data collection system.

Monoclonal Antibodies
CDC has added data fields for monoclonal antibodies to the NHSN COVID-19 surveillance module.

Earlier today, LeadingAge sent all care center members Five-Star Analysis reports that reflect updates to the data implemented by CMS a couple weeks ago. For more details on the scoring updates, go to this recent Advantage story that covers the changes in depth.

Ahead of the Jan. 31 expiration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has ordered the extension of the current eviction moratorium for non-payment of rent.

The order prevents residential evictions until March 31; tenants must self-certify eligibility for the protections. The extension keeps the moratorium largely unchanged, and tenants who previously submitted the self-certification should not have to resubmit.

In the meantime, we are advocating to quickly provide rent relief for senior housing communities impacted by COVID-19.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today released updated Five-Star quality ratings for care centers. Beginning with this month’s update, all three domains (Survey, Staffing, and Quality) will again operate as they did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. All care centers should review the new ratings posted at Medicare Care Compare. As described in this revised Technical Users’ Guide, updates to the specific domains are as follows:

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced the following new quality and Minimum Data Set (MDS) web-based training content for skilled nursing facilities and Medicare home health providers:

On January 11, HUD announced its competition for $150 million in new Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly funds. The application deadline for these funds is May 26, 2021.

The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is similar in many ways to the last HUD Section 202 NOFO issued in April 2019. That NOFO was for $51 million and ultimately provided Section 202 Capital Advance and Project Rental Assistance Contract (PRAC) funding for 575 units via 18 nonprofit-controlled communities when the awards were announced in February 2020.

A key part of the December 2020 COVID-19 relief bill is a renewal of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), including availability of second draw loans for some organizations that got a PPP loan earlier this year. In January 2021, the Small Business Administration and the Department of Treasury issued rulemaking to implement the second draw loan program. Organizations that received a PPP loan earlier this year are eligible to receive a second forgivable loan of up to $2 million if they meet eligibility criteria. The loan application portal is expected to open this week. As with the first round, eligible organizations can apply through most local or national banks.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued the 2020 update to the National Plan to address Alzheimer’s Disease. There have been updates yearly since this report was originally published in 2012. A complete list of the National Plan and updates, as well as an Action Side-by-Side, is available, as is more information about the National Alzheimer's Project Act .

This week, HUD issued a new set of Q&As for Multifamily Housing providers, including senior housing, last updated in mid-October. While the Q&A addresses vaccines, PPP loans, and residual receipts, it falls short of addressing several pressing questions. With affordable housing communities bracing for continued COVID-19 surges, the Q&A provides little direction for housing owners and staff navigating COVID-19 vaccines and testing, as well as ongoing unbudgeted expenses and operational challenges.

Included in the passage of the 5,593 page COVID-19 relief and FY21 appropriations bills package is H.R. 1690, which requires HUD- and USDA-subsidized housing to have carbon monoxide alarms in units that have combustion-fueled appliances or a ventilation system that connects them to such units.