Advocates

This report, written by RTI International and the Center for Health Care Strategies, combines information gathered from an environmental scan and case studies to provide an overview of the current landscape of Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) that provide expanded supplemental benefits. It includes their initial experiences and challenges with developing and administering the benefits to their members.

Scripps Gerontology Center and the Aging and Disability Business Institute have released a report detailing findings from the 2021 CBO-Health Care Contracting Request for Information (RFI) Survey. The report identifies key findings, contracting patterns and trends from the analysis of all four RFI surveys. The data provides insight on the proportion of CBOs contracting with health care entities and the status of the CBO-health care contracting market.

President Biden has announced a set of reforms, developed and implemented through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to improve the safety and quality of nursing home care. The reforms are intended to ensure the following: Every nursing home provides a sufficient number of staff who are adequately trained to provide high-quality care; Poorly performing nursing homes are held accountable for improper and unsafe care and immediately improve their services or are cut off from taxpayer dollars; and The public has better information about nursing home conditions so that they can find the best available options.

On Thursday, February 24, 2022, CMS released a CMCS Informational Bulletin with the updated 2022 Federal Poverty Level Standards. The 2022 guidelines reflect the 4.7 percent price increase between calendar years 2020 and 2021. After this inflation adjustment, the guidelines are rounded and adjusted to standardize the differences between family and household sizes. The informational bulletin also includes a 2022 Dual Eligible Standards chart that displays the new standards for the Medicare Savings Program categories.

This webcast, part of the WellSky & Guidehouse webinar series “Supporting the New Age of HCBS,” highlights federal and state leaders' visions for the future of workforce management, with a focus on person-centered care. A panel of experts answered questions around Section 9817 funding toward long-term workforce development and developments in Washington, DC.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services proposes to reinvest ARPA Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) enhanced funding to implement a statewide grant program with HCBS providers, advocates and stakeholders. These grants will address the workforce crisis, support businesses and programs transition to a model that supports individual with intellectual, developmental, and other significant disabilities find and retain work in competitive integrated employment and other innovative solutions.

This new communications resource, developed by CHCS and the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers’ National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs, identifies clear and consistent language that can help strengthen the complex care community. The language represented in the guide reflects perspectives of stakeholders and people with lived experiences, and is intended to support providers, program leaders, consumer advocates and communications professionals in developing complex care approaches.

On Thursday, February 17, 2022 CMS released a request for information (RFI) regarding access to Medicaid and CHIP Services. The RFI is broad and extends beyond prior CMS access inquiries, which largely focused on eligible beneficiaries ability to receive covered Medicaid services. This RFI includes topics such as how beneficiaries enroll in and maintain access to coverage, access to the actual services, and payment rates.

To celebrate Black History Month and National Caregivers Day, NCLER interviewed Dr. Donna Benton of the University of Southern California’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. During the interview, Dr. Benton discussed her work supporting Black caregivers, the importance of caregiving in the Black community, and strategies for advocates to support their Black older adult clients. She also spoke about the need for legal assistance in advance planning and addressing housing scams in the Black community.

The National Paralysis Resource Center has announced a virtual three-part series to train healthcare professionals who serve wheelchair users on mindfulness and yoga techniques to encourage wellness throughout the body and mind. The program is free to qualified healthcare professionals that directly serve people with paralysis as part of their job responsibilities. The series will be led by Jay Gupta, RPh, MS, MTM Specialist, in March and in April. Each interactive session in March will be held live through Zoom on Saturday from 10:00 a.m to 5:30 p.m. ET. and sessions in April will be held on Saturday from 12:00 p.m to 7:30 p.m ET. Applications to join are due on Monday, February 28, 2022.