Article reprinted with permission from OPEN MINDS. To sign up for a free OPEN MINDS news feed on https://www.openminds.com/market-intelligence/, go to https://www.openminds.com/membership/.
November 18, 2024 | Monica E. Oss
Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved New Hampshire’s Medicaid state plan amendment for community-based mobile crisis intervention teams to provide services for people experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder crisis (see CMS Approves New Hampshire’s Request to Provide Essential Behavioral Health Services Through Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams). The agency also approved a similar crisis program in Maryland (see State Plan Amendment (SPA) #: 24-0021). In January, Alabama also commenced a CMS-funded crisis mobile service (see Alabama Adds Medicaid Mobile Crisis Services) [read full article].
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared ODPANN 24-115, to announce that registration is now open for ODP’s January–April 2025 Virtual QM Certification Classes.
2025 WINTER/SPRING CLASS DATES:
Classes are held over two consecutive days, from 9:30 am – 2:30 pm. Participants must attend, with camera on, the entire time and complete the post-test with a score of at least 84% to obtain ODP QM certification status. Please review the announcement for additional details.
In our continuing unified efforts to advocate for the needs of individuals, families, direct support professionals, and everyone across the ID/A community, we are pleased to announce our participation in a joint study of the ID/A workforce to compile the latest data and information. Following our September 25 letter to Governor Shapiro, we believe it is critically important to complement our budget request by collecting current data following the enactment of the current state fiscal year budget, and the recent implementation of new fee schedule rates. You may download the survey and the instructions for its completion here.
The deadline to submit completed surveys is Friday December 20, and the final report will be published on January 17, 2025. Questions and completed surveys should be sent directly to Steve Forest, who is the lead analyst compiling our data and producing the final report. All information and data will be maintained in the strictest confidence, and no individual provider information will be identified in the final report or disclosed to any other parties. The final report will be issued publicly and available for your individual needs and use as well.
We encourage everyone to complete the survey so that we may all work together to advance our budget advocacy, and use the acquired information to continue our meaningful dialogue with public officials and stakeholders across our community. Thank you in advance for your participation.
With gratitude and appreciation,
The ID/A Associations
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Registration for the January–April 2025 CI Initial Certification Course classes (also known as cohorts) is now open in MyODP. The Initial CI Certification Course was created to ensure that all incidents requiring an investigation receive a systematic review that meets established standards. To perform investigations, the CI candidate must successfully complete all requirements of the CI Initial Certification Course. Please see communication ODPANN 24-114 for additional information and details.
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A Texas federal judge has struck down a US Department of Labor rule that would have expanded overtime eligibility to four million new workers. The new rule, which began July 1, was issued under the Biden administration and tweaked the test used to determine whether a worker should be subject to an exemption to overtime pay requirements.
Judge Sean D. Jordan of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted summary judgment against the rule Friday, finding that it went beyond the agency’s authority and exceeded its statutory jurisdiction.
The decision is a win for the State of Texas and a coalition of business groups who sued over the rule, arguing that the policy would drastically increase payroll costs for employers, resulting in fewer jobs and fewer shifts for workers. This order now applies nationwide.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, certain “white-collar” workers can be exempt from overtime pay requirements if they are salaried, make more than a certain amount each year, and work in a “bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity.”
The new Biden rule updated the salary portion of the test so that workers making less than $58,656 a year would be automatically eligible for overtime pay any time they worked more than 40 hours a week. It also would update that salary threshold every three years.
The DOL said the rule was necessary to ensure the lowest earning workers were being properly paid for their time.
Ultimately, the court found that the overtime rule set the salary piece of the test so high it made other pieces of the analysis irrelevant, like the consideration of a worker’s job duties. That same legal argument was used by Eastern District of Texas to sink an Obama-era DOL rule in 2017, that similarly sought to expand overtime pay eligibility to more workers.
The court ruling landed just weeks before the second and largest phase of the rule was due to take effect on Jan. 1.
The first phase of the rule, which went into effect July 1, increased the salary threshold for overtime eligibility to $43,888 from its current $35,568. That number was then scheduled to go all the way up to $58,656 in the new year.
RCPA will continue to apprise members of any updates related to the FLSA overtime regulation as more details emerge, including potential retroactivity as well as responses from the Federal Department of Labor and State entities.
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