06/01/2020

Today's COVID-19 Report: Monday, June 1, 2020

Monday, June 1, 2020

Here are the latest need-to-know updates for Monday, June 1 regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

ODM Webinar Tomorrow - Ohio Plan for Nursing Facility Testing

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.

CMS Resuming Surveys, Increasing Penalties in Light of Nursing Home Death Toll

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:

1. Perform on-site surveys (within 30 days of this memo) of nursing homes with previous COVID-19 outbreaks, defined as:
1. Cumulative confirmed cases/bed capacity at 10% or greater; or
2. Cumulative confirmed plus suspected cases/bed capacity at 20% or greater; or
3. Ten or more deaths reported due to COVID-19.
2. Perform on-site surveys (within three to five days of identification) of any nursing home with 3 or more new COVID-19 suspected and confirmed cases in the since the last National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) COVID-19 report, or 1 confirmed resident case in a facility that was previously COVID-free. State Survey Agencies are encouraged to communicate with their State Healthcare Associated Infection coordinators prior to initiating these surveys.
3. Starting in FY 2021, perform annual Focused Infection Control surveys of 20 percent of nursing homes based on State discretion or additional data that identifies facility and community risks.

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. 

ODM Clarifies: Stimulus Money Isn’t Income

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:

1. The stimulus money is not counted as income so the county does not rerun the post-eligibility treatment of income calculation to determine a new patient liability.
2. The money is not considered as a resource for one year.
3. If a resident has a personal needs account (PNA) with the facility and deposits the money into their PNA, the NF must account for it separately so that it does not count in their $2,000 resource limit.
4. If a resident is not Medicaid and applies for Medicaid, they would have to demonstrate that they spent the money for an approved use and did not improperly transfer the money in order to qualify for Medicaid.
5. Since the money belongs to the resident, the resident would have to approve using it toward an outstanding balance. In this event, ODM suggests that this be in writing and witnessed by someone who is not an employee of the facility. This is in contrast to PNA money which is designated at both the federal and state level to only be used for items that the resident wishes to purchase.

Questions may be directed to Susan Wallace at swallace@leadingageohio.org.

EVV Deadline Extended to September 1

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:

1. Ask your vendor if they have documentation showing they successfully completed a demonstration with another provider. 
2. If your vendor can provide the requested documentation, please work with your vendor to complete Part 2 of the Request to Schedule Demonstration form. Submit the completed form to EVV@medicaid.ohio.gov.
3. If your vendor cannot provide the requested documentation, please work with your vendor to schedule a demonstration.  The completed Request to Schedule Demonstration form can be submitted to EVV@medicaid.ohio.gov.

ODM has encouraged members to complete this process as quickly as possible. 

OAAC Survey for Older Adults on COVID-19

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 Need to Know: COVID-19 – June 1, 2020

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. 

Housing Call with Senator Brown on Wednesday

Registration is available here:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2967895651266659596

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing further information.

LeadingAge Needs Member Stories

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:

• What did your organization get (or not get)? How much? Is it usable? 
• Recently received PPE packages are best; videos and photos will add important elements to the story.
• What type of PPE do you use? How much?
• Do you have diagnosed cases?  

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.

 

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Ohio Statistics: 35,984 Cases, 2,206 Deaths

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. 

Questions

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.