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Authors Posts by Melissa Dehoff

Melissa Dehoff

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Melissa Dehoff is responsible for all medical rehabilitation and brain injury service issues. Ms. Dehoff attends multiple state-level meetings to advocate on behalf of members on brain injury and rehabilitation issues and is a member of the Department of Health Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Board.

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A red marker circles the word Meeting on a calendar background as an important reminder of a major appointment

This notice is a reminder that the Department of Human Services (DHS) is holding an Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) public meeting on Friday, March 24, 2023, from 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm. The meeting will be held virtually and will provide additional information and updates related to the DHS EVV implementation. Please register to attend here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

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Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

An announcement was issued today regarding the Bureau Director for the Bureau of Human Services Licensing (BHSL) for the Department of Human Services (DHS). The current Bureau Director, Jeanne Parisi, has accepted the Deputy Secretary position for Quality Assurance at the Department of Health, effective March 20, 2023. Brian MacDaid has been appointed Acting Bureau Director, also effective March 20, 2023. Brian has worked for the Commonwealth in DHS for the past 22 years and currently works for the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) in the Bureau of Quality Assurance and Program Analytics as the Director of the Quality Assurance Division.

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A special brain injury provider meeting has been scheduled for March 21, 2023, from 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm to discuss the recently released Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL) Community HealthChoices (CHC) Request for Information (RFI). Members are encouraged to review the RFI prior to the call in order to provide input for the comments that will be submitted in response to the RFI, which are due by April 14, 2023. You can register for the meeting here.

If you have any questions about this meeting, please contact Melissa Dehoff.

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Below are some updates regarding the upcoming Physical Disabilities & Aging (PD&A) Division meetings that members should make note of.

The March 16 division meeting has been canceled, and a special meeting has been scheduled for March 23, 2023, from 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm. The purpose of this meeting will be to discuss the recently released Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL) Community HealthChoices (CHC) Request for Information. Members are encouraged to review the RFI prior to the meeting in order to provide input to the comments that will be submitted, which are due by April 14, 2023. You can register for the meeting here.

The next full PD&A meeting is scheduled for May 25, 2023, from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm. Members are encouraged to submit agenda topics for this meeting (and all future PD&A meetings) to Melissa Dehoff.

The list of upcoming PD&A meetings in 2023 includes:

  • May 25, 2023, from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
  • September 14, 2023, from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
  • December 14, 2023, from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Dehoff.

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The Department of Human Services (DHS) Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has released the Request for Information (RFI) to gather input from stakeholders regarding the Community HealthChoices (CHC) program.

This RFI seeks information to assist the Department in gathering stakeholder feedback on the statement of work (SOW) for the upcoming re-procurement before issuing a Request for Application for vendors to bid on program participation. Through this RFI, the Department hopes to become aware of and knowledgeable about stakeholder areas of interest in the current CHC program and opportunities to strengthen the program for the benefit of participants. A vendor may respond to all or any of the specific questions or topics contained in this RFI.

The Department is requesting that all responses to this RFI be submitted by 12:00 pm on April 14, 2023. Responses must be submitted electronically with “Community HealthChoices Re-Procurement RFI” in the email subject line.

While the Department does not intend to respond to questions or clarifications during the RFI response period, vendors may submit administrative questions related to this RFI electronically using “Community HealthChoices Re-Procurement RFI question” in the email subject line. The Department may or may not respond based on the nature of the question. The Department will post all answers provided online.

RCPA will be scheduling calls to obtain member feedback on this RFI that will be used in providing comments by the April 14 deadline.

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has issued an update on the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Reporting Portal.

The OLTL ARPA Funding portal was launched September 30, 2022 for providers to submit costs associated with ARPA of 2021 funding in order to comply with the Department of Human Services’ (DHS’) reporting requirements. The reporting due dates were previously communicated and are outlined in the chart below. OLTL continues to work through portal access requests and data discrepancy issues. Due to these ongoing challenges, please be advised there will NOT be a penalty assessed for initial reports submitted after the 2/28/2023 due date.

Report Period  Due Dates 
07/01/2021–12/31/2021
01/01/2022–06/30/2022
07/01/2022–12/31/2022		 2/28/2023
01/01/2023–6/30/2023 8/30/2023
07/01/2023–12/31/2023 2/28/2024

As a reminder, the reporting portal is only accepting ARPA cost reports for funding allocated by the General Assembly in 2021. This includes allocations for:

  • Act 24 payments to nursing facilities (NF), personal care homes (PCH), and assisted living residences (ALR) for COVID-19 related costs not otherwise reimbursed by federal, state, or other sources of funding;
  • Strengthening the workforce funding for eligible Personal Assistance Services (PAS), Community Integration (CI), and Residential Habilitation (Res Hab) providers to assist with recruitment and retention of direct care workers; and
  • Funding to adult day providers to strengthen adult day services.

Additional detailed information about the distribution of the 2021 ARPA funding can be found on the DHS Long-Term Care Providers page.

Portal Training & Support
The DHS ARPA Reporting Portal User Guide is an additional resource to help navigate the reporting portal. For portal access requests or questions, please contact the OLTL Provider Helpline at 800-932-0939, Option 2 or via email for assistance.

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Wednesday, March 15, 2023
6:00 pm ET
Register here

Pennsylvania’s ABLE program provides individuals with qualifying disabilities a way to save and invest without affecting their benefits. What is new with ABLE? Join PATF and find out!

A lot has happened in the last few months, and more is to come. Diana Fishlock of the Pennsylvania Treasury Department will discuss the details of Pennsylvania’s ABLE program. Susan Tachau and Karen Hassett, Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF), along with the following partners will provide a brief introduction:

  • Melissa Hawkins, Director, Pennsylvania Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing;
  • Amy Nieves, Executive Director, Mayor’s Commission for People with Disabilities; and
  • Amy Levine, Director of Institutional Advancement, Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.

ASL, CART, and Spanish interpretation will be provided for the webinar. If you require additional accommodations, please let PATF know if you require additional accommodations when you register for the webinar no later than March 1, 2023.

PLEASE NOTE: PATF will host an in-person workshop with ASL and tactile interpreters in late Spring 2023.

This webinar will be recorded, and the recording will be sent out after the event via email to all who register. If you have any questions or need assistance with registering, please contact Karen Hassett at 484-675-0506 or via email.

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