Network

As of January 27, 2015, two states have received approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to expand Medicaid through private market-based coverage. These premium assistance programs have paved the way for the non-expansion states who continue to discuss how they might expand their Medicaid programs. These new models offer viable alternatives for covering previously uninsured populations while addressing those states’ concerns about some of the budgetary, political, and market challenges associated with traditional Medicaid expansion.

More than half of the current Medicare population has two or more chronic health conditions. Medicare Part B covers over 20 preventive screenings and services to help identify health issues early. This webinar looks at a range of services and benefits available to help keep people with Medicare healthy. Participants will learn about:

A two-day national training for health and human service personnel, care providers and family caregivers who care for aging individuals with intellectual or developmentaldisabilities. The training will take place in Hollywood, Florida. Registration is $250 per person, and early resigtration (by February 28) is discounted by 10%. Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided on both days.

Additional event details are forthcoming.

Mathematica will host a two-day conference highlighting findings from new research sponsored by the Social Security Administration through the Disability Research Consortium (DRC). The conference will take place August 5–6, 2015, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. More information about this conference and how to register will be coming soon.

The Social Security Administration's (SSA's) Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND) is testing an innovation that allows Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries to earn more while keeping part of their disability benefits. The earnings rules being tested replaced the "benefit cliff"—the complete loss of benefits when earnings exceed a maximum amount for a sufficient period—with a "benefit ramp" that reduces benefits by $1 for every $2 of earnings over the limit. Beneficiary enrollment in BOND began in 2011, and the demonstration will continue into 2017.

Oral Health America (OHA) is hosting an informative webinar on its state partnership opportunities with the older adult program, the Wisdom Tooth Project®. Through the partnership, aging organizations and oral health coalitions can help improve access to resources for older adults. This opportunity also allows organizations to collaborate with other agencies in their state to address the needs and barriers older adults face. The goal of the webinar is to expand the network of state oral health coalitions and aging organizations working in collaboration.
 

This advocacy skills training webinar is the first of a four-part series hosted by Consumer Voice. In this webinar, the subject of nursing home staffing will be used to teach participants how to develop a strategy around an issue and then choose key points about the issue to create an effective advocacy message. Methods of tailoring those key points to a particular audience will also be addressed.

The session will include:

On Wednesday, January 14, Judge Richard Leon of the DC District Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in Home Care Association v. Weil, vacating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Home Care Rule. The Department of Labor (DOL) is expected to appeal the ruling. The National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services (NRCPDS) will host a webinar to provide an overview of the ruling and an analysis of its impact.

The Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) will host a web briefing to present findings from its forthcoming 13th annual 50-state survey of Medicaid and CHIP eligibility, enrollment, renewal, and cost-sharing policies. The survey provides a profile of where states stand as of January 2015, one year into the implementation of the major Medicaid provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Becoming familiar with new terminology, understanding the healthcare marketplace and developing partnerships in your network are essential to a program's sustainability. This webinar is the final part of a four-part series led by Timothy McNeil, RN, MPH, an independent healthcare consultant with a specialty in health program sustainability.

This webinar, Part 4 of the series, will address how to deveolp a strategy and business model for your organization, including identifying the services you can provide and creating a budget.