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Authors Posts by Fady Sahhar

Fady Sahhar

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Fady is responsible for policy and regulatory matters related to Physical Disabilities and Aging, with primary focus on personal assistance, employment services, and service coordination. Emphasis is placed on engaging the Office of Long-Term Living and the Community HealthChoices Managed Care Organizations, coordination of care with Behavioral HealthChoices MCOs, and collaborations with other advocacy and provider associations. Fady is also the President / CEO of ProVantaCare, an RCPA-affiliated company focused on contracting with MCOs, and is the President of XtraGlobex, a consulting firm focused on Value-Based Payment contracting. He brings extensive experience in the advocacy and operations of human services providers in physical disabilities and aging, from his role at Liberty Resources, Inc., and his service with a number of nonprofit services providers. He earned an MBA in Marketing from The University of Tennessee and a PhD in Organizational Leadership from Capella University.

How Do Economic Impact Payments Affect Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) Participants?

 The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is in the process of distributing economic impact payments (or recovery rebates) as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. OLTL has received questions about how these payments will affect the Medical Assistance (MA) eligibility of OLTL participants in Community HealthChoices, the Living Independence for the Elderly (LIFE) program, OBRA waiver, and Act 150 program. These questions are answered on the attached document.

If you have questions about the information in this Listserv email, please contact the OLTL Provider Helpline at 1-800-932-0939.

A listserv has been established for ongoing updates on the CHC program. It is titled OLTL-COMMUNITY-HEALTHCHOICES, please visit the ListServ Archives page at http://listserv.dpw.state.pa.us to update or register your email address.

Please share this email with other members of your organization as appropriate. Also, it is imperative that you notify the Office of Long-Term Living for changes that would affect your provider file, such as addresses and telephone numbers. Mail to/pay to addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers may be updated electronically through ePEAP, which can be accessed through the PROMISe™ provider portal. For any other provider file changes please notify the Bureau of Fee for Service Programs Enrollment and Certification Section at 1-800-932-0939 Option #1.

The IRS has issued much-anticipated guidance on the payroll tax deferral component of the CARES Act, which allows companies to defer payment on the company match of the Social Security tax (6.2%) for company payroll for March 27 through December 31. The first 50% of this deferral will need to be paid back by Dec. 31, 2021 and the remaining 50% paid back by Dec. 31, 2022. Thus, this tax deferral can be viewed as a two-year, interest-free loan that gives companies immediate liquidity.

Under the new guidance, companies that have received a PPP loan, but whose loan has not yet been forgiven, may defer deposit and payment of the employer’s share of Social Security tax that otherwise would be required to be made beginning on March 27 through the date the lender issues a decision to forgive the loan without incurring failure to deposit and failure to pay penalties. Click here for additional details.

Governor Tom Wolf announced the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) is implementing new federal unemployment compensation benefits provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The COVID-19 relief package temporarily provides an additional $600 per week, makes self-employed, independent contractors and gig workers eligible for benefits, and extends unemployment compensation (UC) benefits for an additional 13 weeks.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released an initial $30 billion in relief funding to Medicare providers today as part of the CARES Act, bringing the total to be distributed in the coming months to more than $100 billion. Pennsylvania has been allocated more than $1 billion in funding, which is one of the highest distribution amounts in the country.

Providers who are enrolled in Medicare have been allotted a portion of these funds based on their share of 2019 Medicare fee-for-services reimbursements. These are payments, not loans, to health care providers and will not need to be repaid.

HHS is partnering with UnitedHealth Group to deliver the initial $30 billion distribution to providers as quickly as possible. Providers will be paid via Automated Clearing House account information on file with UHG, UnitedHealthcare, or Optum Bank, or used for reimbursements from CMS. Providers who normally receive a paper check for reimbursement from CMS will receive a paper check in the mail for this payment as well, within the next few weeks.

Within 30 days of receiving the payment, providers must sign an attestation confirming receipt of the funds and agreeing to the terms and conditions of payment. The portal for signing the attestation will be open Monday and will be available here.

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CMS provided clarification around the suspension of sequestration in a special edition of MLNConnects: Section 3709 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act temporarily suspends the 2% payment adjustment currently applied to all Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) claims due to sequestration. The suspension is effective for claims with dates of service from May 1 through December 31, 2020.

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