News

President Donald Trump has proposed a 14 percent cut to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for fiscal year 2019. We need your help! Tell Congress to invest more in affordable housing for seniors and reject these proposed cuts. 

After reviewing the proposed budget from President Donald Trump, we have identified several proposals that would have a negative impact on long-term services and supports and one area that LeadingAge Minnesota care center members will embrace. 

Care centers will find it valuable to review the “Frequently Asked Questions Related to Long Term Care Regulations, Survey Process, and Training” posted on the CMS webpage dedicated to the requirements of participation and survey process.  

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will soon use payroll-based journal (PBJ) data to update staffing measures in the Five-Star Quality Rating System. 

Shortly after signing the new budget deal approved by Congress, President Donald Trump released his initial budget request for fiscal year 2019. It features $1.4 trillion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade and brings back the per capita caps and block grant proposal we successfully defeated last year. 

President Donald Trump last week signed a $320 billion budget agreement and stop-gap funding through March 23 that ended a blink-and-you-might-have-missed-it government shutdown. There is some good news and bad news for aging services providers: 

The initial budget request released by President Donald Trump this week includes deep cuts to affordable housing programs. The budget proposal cuts funding to the U.S. Housing & Urban Development Department by 18 percent, which would: 

Every year since 2006, Congress has ultimately renewed the exceptions process for annual caps on outpatient therapy under Medicare Part B. Since that has not yet happened for 2018, the caps are currently in effect. This year the caps are $2,010 for physical and speech combined and another $2,010 for occupational therapy. 

Home health care agencies should now be complying with the new Conditions of Participation that went into effect Jan. 13. Unfortunately, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has yet to finalize the interpretive guidelines that offer more detailed information on certain measures. 

Feb. 14 is the due date for care centers to submit Payroll Based Journal (PBJ) staffing data for the period Oct. 1, 2017 – Dec. 31, 2017. Submitting timely and accurate data may be especially important this quarter, as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has said it will utilize PBJ data in 2018 to calculate the staffing measures posted on the Nursing Home Compare website and used in the Five Star Quality Rating System.  

A three-day government shutdown came to an end on Monday when the Senate advanced a continuing resolution to provide funding for the federal government through Feb. 8.   

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last week announced the formation of a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the HHS Office for Civil Rights.  

Congress has until Friday, Jan. 19 to find agreement on an appropriations bill. If they fail to meet that deadline or fail to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government open, a partially government shut down will begin at midnight on Jan. 20. What does a government shutdown mean for LeadingAge Minnesota members and the people they serve? 

Employers that violate laws enforced by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division could face slightly higher civil penalties in 2018.