Here are the latest need-to-know updates for Monday, June 1 regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) Director Maureen Corcoran has shared information with LeadingAge Ohio about a webinar tomorrow for nursing facilities regarding testing underway by the Ohio National Guard.
Please plan to attend this important webinar.
ODM Ohio Plan for Nursing Facility Testing Webinar
Tuesday, June 2 at 9:30 AM
Register for the webinar here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5053969376051868176
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Today in the new QSO-2-31-All memo, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a performance-based funding requirement which will be tied to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act supplemental grants for State Survey Agencies. The memo also includes guidance on the resumption of survey activities and penalties for noncompliance. CMS is providing Directed Plans of Correction, including Root Cause Analysis, for isolated infection control citations at a scope and severity of D or higher.
Quality Improvement Organizations (QIO’s) are being charged to focus on approximately 3,000 low performing nursing homes who have a history of infection control challenges. States may also request their assistance with nursing home outbreaks.
State Agencies are being required to complete 100% of the focused infection control surveys by July 31. CMS is also requiring the following COVID-19 surveys:
In August 2020, State Agency priorities will be impacted by recommendations from the Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes. State Agencies are authorized to expand beyond the current survey prioritization which currently includes immediate jeopardy, Infection Control, and Initial surveys.
LeadingAge Ohio will continue to report on this late day breaking development.
This week, staff of the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) clarified how stimulus checks should be treated in terms of Medicaid eligibility, noting it is not income and should not be treated as assets for one year.
The guidance follows:
For ABD Medicaid:
Questions may be directed to Susan Wallace at swallace@leadingageohio.org.
After further consideration, the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) has extended the deadline for alternate Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) system certification to September 1. The attached letter was sent to impacted providers on Friday.
If you have completed the process validating the transmission of data to the Sandata aggregator, but you haven’t completed an alternate EVV system demonstration, please do the following:
ODM has encouraged members to complete this process as quickly as possible.
The Ohio Aging Advocacy Coalition is surveying older Ohioans about their experiences relative to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. LeadingAge Ohio encourages members to forward the survey to residents, patients and families, to share their experiences with the pandemic thus far, including its financial impact, exposure to the disease and their mental health during the pandemic. Results of the survey will be used in advocacy, and LeadingAge Ohio will share results in a future COVID-19 Daily Report.
For questions related to the survey, contact Susan Wallace at swallace@leadingageohio.org.
LeadingAge shares the latest coronavirus news and resources with members twice each weekday. This morning's update featured a Basic Care Aide Skill Competency Training Tool, Paycheck Protection Program forgiveness guidance, and this week's Senior Housing Weekly recap.
Check out the full report here.
Last week, LeadingAge Ohio shared that the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO) has invited LeadingAge Ohio members to join COHHIO and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown in a webinar discussion this Wednesday, June 3 at 10:00 am to discuss the impact of the coronavirus and the importance of supporting tenants who are struggling to maintain their housing during the pandemic.
We would like a minimum of 500 people registered to show Senator Brown that Ohio cares about Congress taking action to provide rental assistance as well as give him proof he can use to tell his colleagues that Ohio cares.
Earlier this month, COHHIO hosted a roundtable discussion with Senator Rob Portman, who sponsored the Eviction Crisis Act in December. Senator Brown is the lead sponsor of the new Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act (S. 3685) in the U.S. Senate. Senators Portman and Brown are key senators who could help forge a bipartisan solution for Congress to enact emergency rental assistance for unemployed tenants.
Please plan to join the discussion with Senator Brown on the work he is doing to prevent an epidemic of eviction and homelessness during the coronavirus crisis.
Registration is available here:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2967895651266659596
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing further information.
LeadingAge has asked for member stories for national news stories appearing in the Wall Street Journal and Kaiser Health News. The stories will deal with the challenges nursing homes have had finding adequate and appropriate PPE, highlighting cases where FEMA PPE shipments have fallen short in quantity and/or quality.
Questions LeadingAge will ask include:
LeadingAge has also asked if members are willing to go on the record to share their story. Any members interested are encouraged to reach out to Lisa Sanders, VP for Communications at LeadingAge, at lsanders@leadingage.org.
There are 35,984 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Ohio and 2,206 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths. A total of 6,112 people have been hospitalized, including 1,569 admissions to intensive care units.
In-depth data can be accessed by visiting coronavirus.ohio.gov.
Please send all questions to COVID19@leadingageohio.org. Additionally, members are encouraged to visit the LeadingAge Ohio COVID-19 Working Group facebook group to pose questions to peers and share best practices. LeadingAge is continuing its daily calls for all members. To participate in these daily online updates, members should register at here.