LeadingAge Ohio’s December Advocacy in Action webinar highlighted several late-session policy developments with implications for aging services providers. The update covered legislative action on nursing facility reimbursement, including the prospective change to the quality incentive payment formula enacted through House Bill 184, as well as unresolved questions around court-ordered back payments.
The webinar also reviewed the General Assembly’s property tax package awaiting the governor’s signature, with a focus on changes to tax credits that may affect affordable senior housing operators and other providers with taxable property. In addition, members received an update on pending and anticipated legislation related to electronic monitoring in assisted living and residential care settings, including key provider concerns being raised as bill language continues to take shape.
To watch a recording of December’s Advocacy in Action, click here. Top You Asked: What quarter will CMS use for the re-specified long-stay antipsychotic measure?
We Answered: CMS will use Q3 2025 (July 1–September 30, 2025) as the initial data collection period for the re-specified long-stay antipsychotic medication measure (CMS ID: N047.01), which begins public reporting in January 2026. This information is also noted in CMS’s December 1, 2025 manual update, which details the measure’s re-specification to include Medicare and Medicaid claims and encounter data alongside MDS data.
CMS will update the measure quarterly and provide resident-level results to support facility review. The December update also includes broader changes to the Quality Measures User’s Manual v18.0, including a summary of notable revisions and updated risk-adjustment appendices. Top LeadingAge Ohio newsletters will not be published the week of Christmas. Our next issues will be delivered on Tuesday, December 30, following the holiday week. Please also note that the LeadingAge Ohio office will be closed December 25 and January 1 and operating on limited hours December 24 and December 31. LeadingAge Ohio membership invoices have been sent to your billing contact’s email inbox. Your 2025 membership helped advance our shared work to ensure older Ohioans can access values-based, quality services, while supporting efforts to address Medicaid reimbursement, staffing mandates and state budget concerns. We look forward to continued partnership with your organization and continued service to Ohio’s aging population.
To avoid interruptions in service and access to resources, please remit payment by Jan. 31, 2026. Questions about your invoice may be directed to Molly Homan at mhoman@leadingageohio.org. LeadingAge Ohio welcomes members and partners to submit proposals for the 2026 Annual Conference and Trade Show, August 25–27, at the Hilton Columbus at Easton. This year’s conference celebrates Changemakers—leaders and teams advancing aging services through new ideas, tested approaches, and collaborative practice.
Proposals across all topic areas are welcome, with particular interest in home health and hospice, clinical practice and quality, reimbursement, marketing and communications, philanthropy, leadership development, technology, artificial intelligence, and workforce issues. Sessions should offer clear applicability for provider settings and avoid promotion of proprietary products.
The submission deadline is Monday, January 26, 2026. Full details and the application portal are available on the Call for Presentations page.
Questions may be directed to Corey Markham, Director of Education and Business Development, at CMarkham@leadingageohio.org. LeadingAge Ohio has added new 2026 education to both the Education Calendar and the LeadingAge Ohio Learning Center, giving members a clearer view of what’s ahead with more dynamic programs being added throughout 2026. The calendar highlights live programs, collaboratives, and multi-session series, while the Learning Center houses on-demand courses and recordings as they become available.
New offerings include the 2026 Reimbursement Collaborative, focused on Quality Incentive Payment and Patient-Driven Payment Model performance, and 2026 Survey Tips and Tactics, designed to support survey readiness across provider types. The 2026 lineup also includes a growing number of joint education programs developed with peer state associations, including a Governance Webinar Series with LeadingAge Virginia that begins January 8, expanding access to shared expertise while remaining relevant to Ohio providers.
Members can review upcoming programs on the 2026 Education Calendar and explore current and on-demand content in the LeadingAge Ohio Learning Center. There's always something happening at LeadingAge Ohio, view all upcoming events here and mark your calendar today!
- January 8, 15, 22, 29, 2 p.m. - Governance Webinar Series with LeadingAge Virginia
- January 12-30, 8 a.m. - 2026 Winter CORE of Knowledge
- January 14, 11 a.m. - Survey Tips and Tactics 2026 – Immediate Jeopardy
- January 15, 1 p.m. - 2026 Reimbursement Collaborative: Strategic Solutions for QIP and PDPM Success
- January 21, 10 a.m. - All Member Webinar - Making Child Care Work: Ohio’s New Child Care Cred Program Explained
- January 29, 10 a.m. - Philanthropy Network - Navigating the 2025 Tax Law: What Nonprofits and Donors Need to Know
- January 29, 1 p.m. - Nutrition and Mental Health for Adults of All Ages with LeadingAge Dakota
Top LeadingAge is seeking member input on the impact of the long-stay antipsychotics quality measure on Nursing Home Care Compare. This measure provides information on rates of antipsychotic usage in nursing homes and is utilized in the Five Star Quality Rating System. LeadingAge is a member of Project PAUSE, a coalition advocating for changes to the quality measure due to the relative failure of the measure to distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate antipsychotic usage
To bolster its advocacy efforts, LeadingAge is asking members:
- What has been the impact of this quality measure in your nursing home?
- Have your star ratings suffered, and what has been the impact of that?
- Is your nursing home more reluctant to admit potential residents who are already prescribed antipsychotics?
- Have you felt pressured to deprescribe for residents who were appropriately prescribed antipsychotics?
Member testimonials and feedback may be sent to Jodi Eyigor at jeyigor@leadingage.org. Confidentiality will be maintained for any member respondents. Top The Ohio Department of Aging (AGE) is accepting public comment on a proposed amendment that would allow Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) to use a limited portion of Older Americans Act Title III-C Congregate Nutrition funding for alternative meal distribution. The public comment period is open through January 15, 2026.
The proposal reflects updated federal regulations and would permit shelf-stable, pick-up, carry-out, drive-through, or similar meal options, capped at 25 percent of Title III-C-1 funds at both the state and local level. AGE emphasizes that alternative meal distribution is intended to complement congregate meals, not replace them, and would be targeted to older adults with emergency, occasional, or ongoing needs identified through individualized assessment.
AAAs choosing to pursue this option would be required to obtain pre-approval from AGE, follow new technical guidance and training requirements, and track participation to ensure congregate meal programs are not diminished. AGE reports that congregate meal participation has been returning to pre-pandemic levels and commits to ongoing monitoring.
The full proposed amendment is available on AGE’s website. Comments may be submitted to ElderConnections@age.ohio.gov with the subject line “PUBLIC COMMENT.”
LeadingAge Ohio encourages members engaged in nutrition and community-based services to review the proposal and consider providing input. Top What You Need To Know
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is preparing to announce awards from the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, with Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz stating decisions will be released by December 31, as required by law.
- All states submitted applications, but only 38 states have publicly released full plans. The remaining states have released limited summaries or no public materials to date.
- Among the applications made public, no state requested more than $1 billion, though many proposals cluster close to that amount or avoid naming a specific request.
- Consulting firm Sellers Dorsey has compiled a detailed, state-by-state review of publicly available plans in its Rural Health Transformation Program Summary of State RHTP Applications, which outlines common themes such as workforce development, telehealth expansion, behavioral health capacity, and rural hospital stabilization.
Ohio’s Key Transformation Priorities
Ohio is applying for its share of the federal $50 billion Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program to support a multi-year strategy to strengthen rural health care access, workforce, quality, and infrastructure.
- Preventing chronic disease and improving population health
Targeting community-based strategies to reduce risk factors and improve health outcomes.
- Strengthening care delivery in rural Ohio
Expanding services in rural communities through models that integrate primary, behavioral, and preventive care.
- Workforce development & retention
Supporting rural workforce pipelines, recruitment incentives, and training to retain clinicians and support staff.
- Technology & data infrastructure
Modernizing systems — including telehealth, electronic health records, and data sharing — to improve rural care coordination.
- Sustainable models tied to Medicaid and local systems
Aligning program investments with existing state Medicaid initiatives and long-term sustainability strategies.
What Happens Next
CMS is under a statutory deadline to announce awards by the end of the year. Once decisions are released, states will move quickly into implementation, including issuing requests for proposals, establishing regional governance structures, and identifying provider partners. The National Association of Long Term Care Boards has opened its 2025–26 Professional Practice Analysis survey, a national effort that will inform the next revision of the NAB Domains of Practice. Input from licensed administrators and professional leaders is essential to accurately reflect the knowledge and competencies required for entry into senior living and health services leadership roles. The confidential, anonymous survey takes about 45 minutes to complete, and responses are reported only in the aggregate. The survey must be completed by February 6, 2026, and is available through the 2025–26 Professional Practice Analysis survey.
Questions about the survey may be directed to NAB staff at nab@nabweb.org.
Original materials and additional context are available through the NAB Professional Practice Analysis flyer. Top One of the most common citations under F554 occurs when staff leave medications at the bedside for a resident who has not been formally assessed or approved to self-administer. Residents have the right to self-administer medications when the interdisciplinary team (IDT) determines it is clinically appropriate. Surveyors will expect facilities to demonstrate a clear, consistent process for assessing whether a resident can safely self-administer, including evaluating their physical abilities, cognitive status, understanding of medication instructions, awareness of side effects, and ability to store medications securely. These determinations must be documented in the medical record and reflected in the care plan, with periodic reassessment when a resident’s condition changes.
Surveyors will also look for evidence that the IDT, not a single staff member, made the decision, and that resident requests were responded to. When a resident self-administers, facilities must show how they verify that medications were taken as ordered. Medication errors made by residents who self-administer are not included in the facility’s medication error rate; however, such errors may signal that self-administration was not an appropriate IDT decision. If the IDT was not involved or the process was not followed, surveyors will cite F554.
Want more survey tips? Visit LeadingAgeOhio.org and type in Survey Tip of the Week in the search bar. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is weighing a new quality measure that would track whether nursing home residents have documented advance care planning by discharge. The proposal appears on CMS’s 2025 Measures Under Consideration list and could apply to the Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program and Value-Based Purchasing Program, tying documentation of advance care planning conversations or decisions to future quality performance.
While inclusion on the consideration list does not guarantee adoption, similar measures often resurface in rulemaking. CMS is accepting public comments on the proposed measures through January 6.
Read the original reporting from McKnight’s Long-Term Care News on CMS weighing an advance care planning quality measure for nursing homes. Top Scott McQuinn, president and CEO of Life Enriching Communities, has been named a 2026 McKnight’s Pinnacle Award winner, one of the long-term care field’s highest national honors. McQuinn was recognized in the Thought Leader category for a career spanning more than 20 years and marked by sustained leadership across senior living and related services. Winners are selected by an independent national panel based on long-term performance, professional credibility, and influence across the field.
McKnight’s described this year’s class of honorees as exceptionally competitive, citing the depth of talent among nominees nationwide. McQuinn and other award recipients will be celebrated March 18, 2026, at a formal awards ceremony in New York City. Full coverage and details about the program are available in McKnight’s announcement of the 2026 Pinnacle Award winners. Tina Pine, social services director at Good Shepherd Home in Fostoria, has received the 2025 Award of Excellence from the Ohio District 5 Area Agency on Aging. The honor was presented during the agency’s annual meeting and recognizes professionals whose work reflects sustained commitment to supporting older adults and their families across the region.
Pine was recognized for her consistent advocacy, professionalism, and person-centered approach to supporting residents and those close to them. Colleagues noted her ability to navigate complex systems while ensuring people receive the guidance and services they need to live with dignity and quality of life. Good Shepherd Home Executive Director Chris Widman said the award reflects Pine’s day-to-day impact on residents, families, and community partners alike.
Read the original coverage in the Advertiser-Tribune. Judson Senior Living has earned top national and regional honors for two of its Northeast Ohio communities, reflecting the organization’s continued focus on high-quality, mission-driven aging services. Judson Manor was named one of Newsweek’s America’s Best Continuing Care Retirement Communities, ranking first in Cleveland and eighth statewide. Judson Park Health Center also received top marks, earning a five-star rating from U.S. News & World Report for long-term skilled nursing care.
The recognitions highlight strong performance across the continuum of care and sustained investment in staffing, quality, and resident experience. Judson Senior Living President and CEO Kendra Urdzik credited staff across the organization for delivering consistent, person-centered care that supports older adults and their families throughout Northeast Ohio.
Read the original announcement for additional details on the awards and evaluation criteria used by Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report. Top The next Governance Webinar Series begins January 8, 2026. The four-part series, held each Thursday in January from 2 to 3 p.m., is designed for executives, leadership teams, and board members interested in examining the partnership between leadership and the board for long-term sustainability and organizational strength.
Sessions include Recruiting for Mission, Onboarding for Impact on January 8; Inspiring Why: Engaging Boards in Meaningful Philanthropy on January 15; Ready by Choice, Not by Chance: Strategic Affiliation Planning on January 22; and Governing in the Age of AI: Legal Considerations for Aging Services on January 29.
Member registration is $119 per person. Full details and registration are available here. LeadingAge Ohio holds valuable education webinars and in-person events throughout the year. Opportunities are added weekly. See the complete Schedule of Events. Top
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