November 8, 2024

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The Latest News

Long-Term Care Stakeholders Weigh Policy Changes Under New Administration

McKnight’s Long-Term Care News (11/6, Marselas) reports, "A day after President-elect Donald Trump claimed a surprisingly decisive victory, many long-term care stakeholders were looking forward to sweeping policy changes." The article adds, "Providers hope to seize on Trump’s anti-regulatory outlook, reverse the Biden administration’s onerous new staffing requirements set to go into effect starting in 2026 and undo current opposition to for-profit nursing home ownership." AHCA/NCAL President and CEO Clif Porter "said he welcomed the opportunity to work with Trump in a statement issued Tuesday." Porter added, "It is critical that our nation’s leaders prioritize, support, and invest in America’s seniors and their caregivers. ... While we are eager to get to work, there is still much that can be accomplished before the end of the year." New Hampshire Health Care Association President and CEO Brendan Williams also commented, saying, "I expect his administration to pare back Biden’s bizarre regulatory vendetta."

McKnight’s Senior Living (11/6, Bonvissuto) reports "the senior living industry promptly promoted a vow of collaboration with the incoming administration — along with a plea to lawmakers to first pass legislation during the lame-duck sessions addressing the care and needs of the nation’s older adults." Leaders from groups including AHCA/NCAL "emphasized that their missions — improving the lives of the nation’s older adults — remain unchanged. They also offered their expertise in designing solutions to protect and enhance access to care." Porter said, "We urge lawmakers to pass legislation during the lame-duck session that rationalizes regulations, expands workforce development and increases access to care for seniors and individuals with disabilities."

Senior Housing News (11/6, Montgomery) reports Porter also "said the organization was ‘optimistic’ that the incoming Trump administration would rescind the ‘unrealistic’ staffing mandate, but noted the ‘multiple paths’ for Congress and the courts to address the contentious issue."

PEAK Experience Survey

Your voice matters! The PEAK Team at K-State, KDADS, and the PEAK Advisory Team need your help to improve the PEAK Program. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey by November 15th. Your feedback will directly impact the future of the program. Please share this link with other staff in your home – we want to make sure all voices are heard and opinions to be represented.

PEAK Participants: Click here

Submit Your 2025 National Quality Award Intent to Apply

The AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award 2025 Intent to Apply (ITA) is open.

We encourage applicants who plan to apply for a National Quality Award in 2025 to submit an ITA before the deadline on Thursday, November 14, 2024.

WHY SUBMIT AN ITA?

Commitment to Quality: Demonstrate your organization's dedication to continuous quality improvement to your communities, staff, and residents.
Stay Organized: Help keep your organization focused and organized throughout the application process.
Discounted Application Fee: Applicants who submit an ITA receive a discounted application fee.*
Exclusive Resources: Gain access to exclusive resources to assist with the application process.
Voluntary but Encouraged: While submitting an ITA is voluntary, it is strongly encouraged for long term and post-acute care providers.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

CMS Extends Deadline for All Mandatory Off-Cycle SNF Provider Enrollment Revalidations

We are pleased to report that Tuesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) extended the due date to May 1, 2025, to submit the new Form CMS-855A SNF Disclosures Attachment 1 nationwide for all SNF revalidations and for all “pending as of October 1” applications. This replaces the original 90-day period that was required to submit information (with exception of states impacted by the recent hurricanes) within receiving notice from a respective Medicare Administrative Contractor between October and December 2024.

This positive development comes after AHCA/NCAL expressed strong concerns with the 90-day deadline to HHS and CMS in a letter last month.

Specifically, the new CMS disclosable parties reporting submission timeline guidance states:

Due Dates for All SNFs: Regardless of when the SNF received its notice of revalidation letter from its MAC (i.e., October, November, or December), the revalidation application due date for ALL SNFs – irrespective of the state in which they are located -- is May 1, 2025. This May 1, 2025, due date also applies to ALL SNFs that – as explained in Section (I)(B) above – had a pending initial, revalidation, reactivation, or CHOW application as of October 1, 2024, and were requested to submit the SNF Attachment. The Attachment will not be due until May 1, 2025. The previous restriction of the May 1, 2025, date to SNFs in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee no longer applies.

This is one of two updates posted by CMS over the past week to its sub regulatory guidance related to this revalidation process. It also contains new technical guidance, clarifications, and answers to FAQs to assist providers in submitting the required information, including clarification on:

The number of organizational charts that must be submitted (see Section (VI)(C))
Clinical consulting services and policies/procedures (see new Section VI(G)))
Sections (III)(E)(i) and (ii) that both categories of bulleted parties must be reported.

AHCA/NCAL will continue to provide and update resources for members during this timeframe, including on our website, as well as assisting members through our Member Provider Enrollment Revalidation Helpdesk. AHCA/NCAL will also host four Office Hours webinars on November 15, December 6, January 10, and January 31.

Please contact 855Revalidation@ahca.org with any questions.

Education Spotlight

Webinar: Welcome to the World of Dietary! LTC Refresher Course

December 12th, 2024 - 10:00AM - 2:30PM

Dietary department need a refresh? Sharpen your dietary knowledge and establish effective dietary department systems when you join Proactive for this virtual workshop. This 4-hour training will review team building, food service regulations, documentation requirements, IDT collaboration, preventing common deficiencies and much more! Co-presented by a dual Registered Dietitian and Nursing Home Administrator and a nurse/legal nurse consultant, your team will gain insights into the dietitian role, effective dietary systems and recommended QA oversight and management duties of the facility administrator! Don’t miss this unique opportunity to elevate the quality of your dietary department.

Learning Objectives:

Understand the importance of staff development, training, and teamwork in the dietary department.
Identify the regulatory requirements pertinent to the dietary manager role.
Identify survey procedures surveyors will follow to assess compliance with dietary related requirements.
Recognize areas of common deficiencies and how to avoid them.
Discuss integration of systems between nursing and dietary departments.
Describe best practices for implementing and/or improving assessment and documentation practices pertinent to systems related to nutrition and hydration.
Understand the role of the dietary manager in collaborating with the IDT to manage systems related to nutrition and hydration and reducing weight loss in LTC facilities

Click here for more details.