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Authors Posts by Carol Ferenz

Carol Ferenz

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It’s always worth celebrating when someone is placed in the right job, but the depth of the employer relationship doesn’t need to stop there! True engagement with business partners can take advocacy and experience and turn it into real social change. Learn how to find mutual mission matches with businesses in your community and how it can lead to deeper levels of support for you and for their businesses as well.

RCPA Members are reminded that they are invited to attend this FREE webinar Thursday, June 24, 2021 from 2:00 pm–3:30 pm. Register here.

Presented by Jeannine Pavlak, CEO of New England Business Associates

As a part of the NEON project, RCPA is offering this webinar presented by Jeannine Pavlak. Pavlak is the President and CEO of New England Business Associates (NEBA), a community provider known nationally and internationally for its work in the supported and community-integrated employment field. She holds a Master of Science degree in Nonprofit Management and has 32 years of practical experience in designing, planning, evaluating, and delivering individualized employment services for people with significant disabilities. Pavlak is a Subject Matter Expert (SME) with the NEON Project through the Office of Disability Employment Policy.

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Image by Dirk Wouters from Pixabay

From ANCOR:

The CDC and CMS have asked ANCOR to provide input on infection control practices and needs within the ICF program. The specific first round of questions for input relates to vaccination and are outlined below. ANCOR is offering two options to collect input from ICF Providers:

1. Complete linked survey (responses requested by Monday, June 21 at noon)
Feedback to CDC on ICF/IID Infection Control Practices and Needs

2. Workgroup session scheduled for Thursday, June 17 at 2:00 pm ET.
Join Session: us02web.zoom.us/j/84238000555
Meeting ID: 842 3800 0555
Dial  +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)

CDC Questions for ICF/IID Stakeholder Engagement:

  • How do individual ICF/IIDs currently track vaccinations for clients? What about Staff?
  • To what extent are ICFs/IIDs required to report vaccination data for clients and/or Staff to local or state surveillance systems?
  • To what extent would ICFs/IIDs be able to report vaccination data for clients and/or Staff to designated surveillance systems?
  • What kinds of challenges will/are ICFs/IIDs face(ing) as they seek to implement the new COVID-19 vaccination offering and education requirements from the Interim Final Rule “Medicare and Medicaid Programs; COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements for Long-Term Care (LTC) Facilities and Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICFs-IID) Residents, Clients, and Staff.”?
  • What kinds of guidance, education, training, tools or assistance will/do ICFs and IIDs need to implement the new COVID-19 vaccination offering and education requirements?

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Catherine Thibedeau
Orono, ME
(207) 866-3769 (103)
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Message from the Department of Human Services:

As you may know, the American Rescue Plan of 2021 (ARP) provides a temporary 10% increase to the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for certain Medicaid expenditures for home and community-based services (HCBS). The funding must be used to enhance, expand, or strengthen HCBS beyond what is available under the Medicaid program as of April 1, 2021.

On Monday, June 14, the Department of Human Services (DHS) submitted a preliminary spending plan to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that serves as a foundation for Pennsylvania’s planning efforts by outlining our principles and overarching priorities. The preliminary plan encompasses many of the stakeholder recommendations that have been made to date. The overarching priorities include:

  1. Increasing access to HCBS;
  2. Enhancing HCBS provider payment rates and benefits;
  3. Protecting the health and well-being of direct care workers and direct support professionals through the provision of supplies and equipment;
  4. Recruitment and retention efforts to support the workforce;
  5. Supporting caregivers;
  6. Assistive technology and other supports to improve functional capabilities of persons with disabilities;
  7. Supporting the transition of individuals to community-based living arrangements;
  8. Investing in activities to address Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder treatment and recovery needs of Medicaid beneficiaries; and
  9. Building HCBS capacity and rebalancing Long-term Services and Supports.

With these priorities in mind, we hope to hear more from stakeholders about Pennsylvania’s efforts as we continue to flesh out the details of our plan to strengthen, enhance, and expand HCBS. Comments must be submitted by close of business on July 6.

Please visit the public comment overview as well as Pennsylvania’s preliminary spending plan for further information. Your comments can be submitted via email. Additionally, a live virtual public comment session will take place on Wednesday, June 30 at 10 am for those who are unable or prefer not to submit written feedback. More information about how to RSVP for this session will be available soon.

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    ODP Announcement 21-045 serves to announce an opportunity for Community Participation Support providers to participate in a free virtual training jointly funded by the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) and the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR). The training will be provided by national experts and focus on how Community Participation Support services providers can transform from a facility-based model to a competitive integrated employment business model. This initiative also includes the opportunity to receive technical assistance and participate in regional learning collaboratives facilitated by a national expert to assist in developing and implementing concrete and targeted measures to make the transformation.

    The Transformation Training will be held virtually and is free to providers enrolled with ODP to provide Community Participation Support. The training will be limited to 30 provider agencies that are selected through an application process. Providers interested in participating in the training must be willing to commit at least two executive-level staff to participate in all three days of training.

    The training will take place virtually July 19, 2021 through July 21, 2021 from 9:00 am–1:30 pm. Breaks are built in to the sessions.

    After the conclusion of the Transformation Training, 15 providers will be given the opportunity to receive at least 12 hours of virtual technical assistance and consultation from the national experts. Five providers each, in three regions of the state (West, Central, East), will be selected. Each provider will be asked to identify no more than three executive-level staff to participate, for a total of no more than 15 people in each Transformation Regional Learning Collaborative. The team must consist of any combination of the organization’s Executive Director/CEO, Finance Director/CFO, Senior Program Director/COO, or Board Officer, preferably the President.

    Providers will receive assistance with developing and implementing a strategy and action plan to transform their business model at no cost to the provider. Each provider will be afforded a 1:1 consultation with the national expert in addition to the Transformation Regional Learning Collaborative.

    Providers that are interested in applying to be part of the Transformation Training and Regional Learning Collaborative and receive technical assistance from a national expert must do the following:

    1. Complete and submit the attached application to Laura Cipriani no later than Friday, July 2, 2021.
    2. ODP will notify each provider applicant whether they have been selected for the 3-day Transformation Training. Notification will be sent via email to the email address that was used to submit the application.
    3. After the 3-day training, ODP will notify the 15 providers that have been selected to participate in a Transformation Regional Learning Collaborative.

    If you have any questions, please contact Laura Cipriani.

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    ODP Announcement 21-046 is intended to instruct providers on how to proceed when a claim denial is received for Error Status Codes (ESC) 545 and 512. The short descriptions for these ESCs are “Claim Past Filing Limit” and “Claim Past 365 Day Filing Limit.” Providers should utilize the Bureau of Financial Management and Program Support 180-Day Timely Filing Exception/Special Handling Request Form when requesting payment for these claims. Please note: the release of this communication will obsolete Informational Memo 037-17.

    Additionally, Medical Assistance (MA) Regulation 55 Pa. Code § 1101.68(b)(1) established criteria for submitting invoices for services rendered to MA recipients. Please view the regulation here.

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    ODP Announcement 20-056 Update is to release the Office of Developmental Programs’ (ODP) revised Individual Transition Guide. The Guide has been renamed the Supports Coordinator (SC) Guide for Community Reintegration (the Guide).

    As communities begin to reopen on a larger scale, people will have different levels of readiness to return to pre-pandemic activities. This guide is designed for SCs supporting individuals, their families, staff, and other involved parties to facilitate conversations to identify supports and services to assist in a successful reentry into the community.

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    On June 11, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a document titled “Provider Relief Fund General and Targeted Distribution: Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements” to notify Provider Relief Fund (PRF) recipients of the data elements and deadlines that constitute the post payment reporting process. The June 11 PRF requirements establish:

    1. the deadlines by which recipients are required to use or return funds, and
    2. the deadlines by which recipients must submit a report on use of funds.

    The previous PRF guidance, titled “General and Targeted Distribution: Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements,” was released on January 15, 2021 and is superseded by the June 11 guidance. Principle differences between the guidance are:

    1. Updated Reporting Times
    2. Updated Payment Use Periods
    3. Reporting Requirement Changes

    Please see the document provided to us by ANCOR for the information.

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    From ANCOR:

    Hello ANCOR members!
    New guidance on the PRF reporting requirements has just been released.

    View in browser | Distributed by Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS)

    Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is releasing revised reporting requirements for recipients of Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments. This announcement includes expanding the amount of time providers will have to report information, aims to reduce burdens on smaller providers, and extends key deadlines for expending PRF payments for recipients who received payments after June 30, 2020. The revised reporting requirements will be applicable to providers who received one or more payments exceeding, in the aggregate, $10,000 during a single Payment Received Period from the PRF General Distributions, Targeted Distributions, and/or Skilled Nursing Facility and Nursing Home Infection Control Distributions.

    “From the beginning of this pandemic, health care providers have gone above and beyond to care for their patients in extremely difficult circumstances that caused significant financial hardship,” said HRSA Acting Administrator Diana Espinosa. “These updated requirements reflect our focus on giving providers equitable amounts of time for use of these funds, maintaining effective safeguards for taxpayer dollars, and incorporating feedback from providers requesting more flexibility and clarity about PRF reporting.”

    HHS began issuing notices on post-payment reporting requirements in July 2020. On January 15, 2021, HHS issued updated requirements to reflect language in the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 and opened registration for the reporting portal. Since then, HHS has carefully weighed the rapidly evolving nature of the pandemic and its impact on health care providers and other stakeholders, which is reflected in the revised notice issued today.

    The revised reporting requirements supplanting the January 15th requirements can be found here – PDF.

    Key Updates:

    • The period of availability of funds is based on the date the payment is received (rather than requiring all payments be used by June 30, 2021, regardless of when they were received).
    • Recipients are required to report for each Payment Received Period in which they received one or more payments exceeding, in the aggregate, $10,000 (rather than $10,000 cumulatively across all PRF payments).
    • Recipients will have a 90-day period to complete reporting (rather than a 30-day reporting period).
    • The reporting requirements are now applicable to recipients of the Skilled Nursing Facility and Nursing Home Infection Control Distribution in addition to General and other Targeted Distributions.
    • The PRF Reporting Portal will open for providers to start submitting information on July 1, 2021.

    Summary of Reporting Requirements

      Payment Received Period (Payments Exceeding $10,000 in Aggregate Received) Deadline to Use Funds Reporting Time Period
    Period 1 From April 10, 2020 to June 30, 2020 June 30, 2021 July 1 to September 30, 2021
    Period 2 From July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 December 31, 2021 January 1 to March 31, 2022
    Period 3 From January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021 June 30, 2022 July 1 to September 30, 2022
    Period 4 From July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 December 31, 2022 January 1 to March 31, 2023

    These reporting requirements do not apply to the Rural Health Clinic COVID-19 Testing Program nor the two claims reimbursements programs: the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program and the HRSA COVID-19 Coverage Assistance Fund. HRSA continues to encourage providers to establish their PRF Reporting Portal accounts now by registering here. Registration will also allow providers to receive updates closer to the official opening of the portal for their reporting submissions.

    For more information, read the materials below:

    Please contact your RCPA Policy Director for more information.

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