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Message from Office of Developmental Programs (ODP):

Good Morning ODP Stakeholder:

On Friday, September 24, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued the recommendation for Comirnaty Pfizer-BioNTech booster doses for the following populations, at least six months following the second dose of their Pfizer primary series:

  1. People 65 years and older and residents in long-term care settings aged 18 and above should receive a booster of the Pfizer-BioNTech Vx;
  2. People aged 50–64 years with underlying medical conditions should receive a booster of the Pfizer-BioNTech Vx;
  3. People aged 18–49 years with underlying medical conditions may receive a booster of the Pfizer-BioNTech Vx, based on their individual benefits and risks. The underlying medical conditions identified by the CDC include:
    • Cancer
    • Chronic kidney disease
    • Chronic lung diseases, including COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), asthma (moderate-to-severe), interstitial lung disease, cystic fibrosis, and pulmonary hypertension
    • Dementia or other neurological conditions
    • Diabetes (type 1 or type 2)
    • Down syndrome
    • Heart conditions (such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathies or hypertension)
    • HIV infection
    • Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system)
    • Liver disease
    • Overweight and obesity
    • Pregnancy
    • Sickle cell disease or thalassemia
    • Smoking, current or former
    • Solid organ or blood stem cell transplant
    • Stroke or cerebrovascular disease, which affects blood flow to the brain
    • Substance use disorders; and
  1. People aged 18-64 years who are at increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of occupational or institutional setting may receive a booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech Vx, based on their individual benefits and risks. This includes all residents of ICFs and licensed community homes, all direct service professionals, provider staff and supports coordinators.

Following this recommendation, eligible individuals should be able to begin scheduling appointments and receiving booster doses today.

The flowchart developed by the PA Department of Health titled, “Are you eligible for an additional COVID-19 dose or booster?” will assist in determining those who are currently eligible to receive a vaccine booster. Your healthcare practitioner can also assist in the determination should you have additional questions.

Preparedness checklist for long-term care facilities:

  • Evaluate the needs of your population.If your residents received the Comirnaty Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, they are likely eligible for their booster dose beginning 6 months after their second dose.
  • Consider eligible healthcare staffas potential recipients of booster doses (or a primary series if not yet vaccinated) as well.
  • Work with local pharmacies and providersto hold Pfizer booster clinics administer doses in your facility if possible. Any long-term or congregate care facility that does not have a provider/pharmacy partner to supply and/or administer COVID-19 vaccines should respond to this survey as soon as possible.

The dosage and medicine of the Comirnaty Pfizer BioNTech vaccine are the same in the primary doses, the additional doses for people with compromised immune systems, and the booster doses for people over age 65 and at high risk for COVID-19.

Please await further public health guidance regarding booster doses for individuals who received the Moderna or Janssen (ie. Johnson & Johnson) vaccines for their primary series. The publicly available evidence for booster doses of the Moderna and Janssen vaccines to date is encouraging, and the Department of Health awaits the FDA and CDC’s decisions.

Thank you for all you have done and will continue to do to protect Pennsylvanians from COVID-19.

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Message from the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP):

Good Afternoon AAW Stakeholder:

The purpose of this email is to inform all interested parties that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted the Office of Developmental Programs a second 90-day extension on the currently approved Adult Autism Waiver through December 27, 2021.

Questions about the extension can be directed to ODP.

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Capitol hill building in the morning with colorful cloud , Washington DC.

Message from ANCOR: 

Dear ANCOR Members,

The to-do list for Congress this week is quite massive and hugely significant. Speaker Pelosi’s list includes passing the bipartisan infrastructure package, the reconciliation, and a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government. We wanted to give you a Monday overview of what we are following, planning and how you can help in the coming days!

First up, the Continuing Resolution or CR: If you’ll recall, the House did pass a CR, but it included provisions to raise the debt limit, disaster relief funding and Afghanistan refugee resettlement funding. The Senate is not going to pass the CR with all of that attached. There should be a party line vote today, primarily with Republicans refusing to raise the debt limit. (This is a drama that plays out in Congress all the time, no matter the party in power…haven’t we all seen this movie before?) Once that Senate vote fails today, both chambers will need to go back to the drawing board in order to pass a “clean” CR that can be signed by President Biden by midnight on September 30 to avoid a government shutdown.

Next up, the Bipartisan (hard) Infrastructure Package: Speaker Pelosi announced the House will vote on this package Thursday, September 30. Originally the date was set for a vote on both this package and the human infrastructure package TODAY in hopes of keeping both the progressive and moderate sides of her caucus satisfied, but things haven’t gone exactly to plan. The risk for Speaker Pelosi is that the progressive caucus has threatened to vote no on the bipartisan infrastructure package without significant progress toward the reconciliation package (where our HCBS funding lives). Speaker Pelosi has promised a “framework” for the reconciliation package in hopes that will be enough to bring the progressives on board to pass the bipartisan package first, but the vote is anything but certain.

Last but not least, the Human Infrastructure Package/Reconciliation: On Sunday, the House Budget Committee (after the markups) packaged the reconciliation bill and moved it to the House Rules Committee. As expected House and Senate Democrats are actively negotiating to develop an overarching framework and legislative text. Leadership is developing a reconciliation package for a potential vote on Thursday in hopes of moving the progressive Democrats to vote on the bipartisan package (see above).  Needless to say, this is a tall order to get this done by Thursday with so many disagreements among Democrats on what should and shouldn’t be included. One thing for sure, whatever happens this week with the reconciliation will not be the last step. There will still be plenty of time for change.

LASTLY, WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP?

  • Recent polling shows over 80% of Americans support the HCBS provisions of the bill, even if they don’t agree with other parts of it.
  • Congress is hearing from a LOT of their constituents back home supporting HCBS. Keep it up! This is clearly not a partisan issue.
  • Tell your stories!
  • Take Action Alerts!

On Wednesday, ahead of the vote(s) in the House…we will be releasing a summary brief of our recent Workforce Impact Survey, along with a NEW Action Alert. Please be on the lookout for that, rally your groups and prepare for this important DAY OF ACTION. 

Thank you, everyone! Happy Monday!
——————————
Shannon McCracken
Vice President of Government Relations
ANCOR
606.271.3555
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Message from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS):

Coverage without cost-sharing available for eligible people with Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Most Commercial Health Insurance Coverage.

Following the FDA’s recent action that authorized a booster dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for certain high-risk populations and a recommendation from the CDC, CMS will continue to provide coverage for this critical protection from the virus, including booster doses, without cost sharing.

Beneficiaries with Medicare pay nothing for COVID-19 vaccines or their administration, and there is no applicable copayment, coinsurance, or deductible. In addition, thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, nearly all Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries must receive coverage of COVID-19 vaccines and their administration, without cost-sharing. COVID-19 vaccines and their administration, including boosters, will also be covered without cost-sharing for eligible consumers of most issuers of health insurance in the commercial market. People can visit vaccines.gov (English) or vacunas.gov (Spanish) to search for vaccines nearby.

“The Biden-Harris Administration has made the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines accessible and free to people across the country. CMS is ensuring that cost is not a barrier to access, including for boosters,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “CMS will pay Medicare vaccine providers who administer approved COVID-19 boosters, enabling people to access these vaccines at no cost.”

CMS continues to explore ways to ensure maximum access to COVID-19 vaccinations. More information regarding the CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Program Provider Requirements and how the COVID-19 vaccine is provided through that program at no cost to recipients is available on the CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Program Provider Requirements and Support webpage and through the CMS COVID-19 Provider Toolkit.

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