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Policy Areas

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A valued and respected provider of employment services for people with disabilities, Rocco Cambria, President of AHEDD, is retiring July 6. Rocco has dedicated 41 years of service at AHEDD and has been a trailblazer for promoting employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

Throughout the past few months, a dedicated search committee comprised of several members of the AHEDD Board of Directors has been diligently screening and interviewing candidates to identify their next leader. The committee has spent many hours searching for an ideal candidate who exhibits passion and devotion for AHEDD’s mission, knowledge about their environment, and drive to take AHEDD to the next level.

It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm the AHEDD Board of Directors announces that the next President of AHEDD will be Brandy F. Burnham, the former Director of the Bureau of Workforce Development Administration, Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry. Brandy will begin her tenure on June 4.

Brandy comes to AHEDD with nearly 20 years of relevant experience, 5 of which were in Workforce Development in the statewide public workforce system. Throughout her impressive career, she has cultivated dynamic relationships with federal, state and local constituents which she plans to leverage to AHEDD’s advantage. Her background in fundraising, policy and administration, strategic planning, mental health, and special education make her uniquely suited to provide leadership during the ever-changing, ever-evolving environment of community integrated employment and workforce development under the Employment First priorities. RCPA congratulates Rocco and AHEDD on this excellent selection and we look forward to working with AHEDD through this transition.

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As a reminder, Providers of Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) for Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) — to include providers of residential services, community participation support, and day habilitation services in the Adult Community Autism Program (ACAP) and Consolidated, Community Living, Person/Family-Directed Support and Adult Autism Waivers — must complete a Self-Assessment to determine compliance with the HCBS Settings Rule, published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2014.

HCBS Provider Self-Assessments must be completed online by 11:59 pm on Tuesday, June 12, 2018. Service locations for which ODP has not received a completed self-assessment will be deemed non-compliant.

These HCBS Provider Self-Assessments will assist in identifying potential areas of non-compliance and allow the provider to develop a corrective action plan outlining how they plan to achieve full compliance. While CMS has given states an extension to ensure all settings have achieved compliance with the rule by March of 2022, various requirements and effective dates have been built into ODP”s waivers and upcoming regulations which will impact the dates by which compliance must be achieved.

It is important to note that the intent of the self-assessment is not to close or terminate any home or community-based services but instead, to work with individuals, providers, and other stakeholders to transition these waiver services, to meet compliance with the HCBS Settings Rule and the vision of ensuring individuals are fully integrated into the community, afforded choice, and have their health and safety needs met.

See Communication #035-18 for all of the details.

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As a result of the many Community HealthChoices (CHC) stakeholder events, the Department of Human Services (DHS) has added frequently asked questions (FAQ) documents to the CHC website for providers and participants.

To assist stakeholders in finding answers to questions more quickly, DHS recently consolidated all FAQs into a single CHC Questions and Answers document. This new document is in a searchable pdf format and contains a table of contents that allows the user to easily move to different sections within the document.

For more information, visit the DHS CHC web page.

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted a number of various inpatient rehabilitation facility patient assessment instrument (IRF PAI) resources to their website, including the RTI International Report on patient assessment data elements.

Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System (IRF PPS) Proposed Rule for FY 2019: Reminder: Comments are due by June 26, 2018. See May 4, 2018 RCPA Info for additional information on the proposed provisions.

PROPOSED IRF-PAI Version 3.0: The proposed assessment tool indicates an effective date of October 1, 2019. However, the fiscal year (FY) 2019 IRF prospective payment system (PPS) proposed rule indicates it will be effective in FY 2020.

Change Table: Proposed IRF-PAI Version 3.0 – Effective October 1, 2019 (FY 2020) – Changes from Version 2.0 to 3.0: This table highlights the differences between the IRF PAI Version 3.0 and IRF PAI Version 2.0.

RTI International Report: Analyses to Inform the Potential Use of Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements in the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System: This report includes a summary by RTI on the use of  assessment data in the current IRF PPS and describes the process used to substitute data from the quality indicators sections of the IRF PA into the IRF PPS. The report also presents the case-mix groups (CMGs) and payment weights based on those elements that CMS proposes for FY 2020.

Contact Melissa Dehoff with questions.

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This week, both the US Senate and US House introduced bipartisan legislation (HR 5912 in the House and S 2897 in the Senate) designed to delay implementation of the Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) provision of the 21st Century Cures Act and require public input from stakeholders. The bill was led by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and co-sponsored by a range of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and House. The EVV delay bill gives states an additional year to implement EVV, having it take effect on January 1, 2020 instead of January 1, 2019.

In late 2016, Congress had ordered states to install EVV systems as a way of preventing fraud in Medicaid as part of the 21st Century Cures Act, but many challenges arose after the bill passed. This is partially due to CMS not releasing guidance on the EVV statute until May 2018, leaving states in the dark for a full 18 months following passage of the EVV law. Even despite CMS’ recent guidance, many concerns remain about which disability supports and services are required to comply with the rule. Additionally, because there has been little stakeholder input, questions abound about privacy, costs, and other aspects of compliance.

Please contact your legislators and ask them to support the EVV delay bill. The American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR) has been instrumental in advocating for this legislation; RCPA is proud to be a member of ANCOR and appreciates their initiative on this issue.

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The following documents provide information from the Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE) regarding the Certified Employment Specialist Professional (CESP) recertification process and the requirements for Continuing Education (CE) credits.

The CESP Certification is valid for a 3-year period, during which time the CESP must demonstrate a commitment to professional development by obtaining 36 CE Credits in order to maintain their certification. One CE credit is equivalent to one hour of clock time (except as noted on the “Requirements for Continuing Education Form”). Documentation which verifies the reported number of CE credits must be submitted with the recertification application. Repeat CE activities/content within the same 3-year recertification cycle will NOT count for credit.

In addition to providing appropriate documentation of 36 CE Credits, the recertification application must be submitted with the recertification fee of $125 paid per 3-year term.

Please refer to the following documents for more detailed information:

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On May 11, 2018, the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced a new federal rule that will allow VA doctors, nurses, and other health care providers to administer care to Veterans using telehealth, regardless of where in the United States the provider or Veteran is located. This includes across state lines and outside of a VA facility.

Previously, it was unclear whether VA providers could furnish care to Veterans in other states through telehealth because of licensing restrictions or state-specific telehealth laws. This new rule exercises federal preemption to override those state restrictions, paving the way for VA to expand care to Veterans using telehealth.

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The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) issued Bulletin 00-18-02 to disseminate an updated PA 1768 Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Eligibility/Ineligibility/Change Form, and to provide guidance for completion of the form. The intent of the updated form is to improve communication between the County Assistance Office (CAO) and the designated ODP entities that must inform the CAO of eligibility status of waiver recipients.

Notable changes include:

  • The addition of Part I, “Complete for New HCBS Applicants”;
  • The addition of Part II, “Complete for HCBS Recipients reporting an Update, Change, Transfer or Termination”;
  • The addition of the Community Living Waiver in the Eligibility/Coding Section; and
  • Revised terminology throughout the PA 1768 form to accommodate several programs’ needs.

The electronic version of PA 1768 may be completed in HCSIS by the individual’s supports coordinator. Provider agencies, families, and individuals may not complete and submit the PA 1768 directly to the CAO. All must work with the SC for any changes where the form must be completed and submitted to the CAO.

The term “HCBS Provider” as an enrolling agency in the “PA 1768 Originator” section includes Supports Coordinator Organizations.

The Money Follows the Person (MFP) code must be entered on the PA 1768 when applicable. The CAO will not enter an MFP code in its information system if it is not on this form.

The PA 1768 form does not eliminate the requirement for the Administrative Entity or County MH/ID program to document program eligibility for a waiver on ODP – approved forms. A service plan will be completed and will include specific services that will be received once the individual is enrolled in the waiver and the date that services will begin.

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) recently announced that they will be offering an “Opioid 101” webinar on Wednesday, May 30, 2018 at 1:00 pm.

This webinar will discuss the basics of opioid medications; what they are, how they work, and how substance use disorder is identified and treated. Additionally, the discussion will include current safe prescribing guidelines and alternative methods for managing chronic pain, information on how to recognize and respond to an overdose, how naloxone works, and how individuals can obtain it.

The webinar presenters include: Jordan Lewis, PhD, Public Policy Research Analyst, William Penn Fellow, Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs; Mr. Tim Rader, Chief, Training Section, Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs; Ms. Sarah Boateng, Executive Deputy Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Health; Mr. Jeff Geibel, Chief, Treatment Division, Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.

To participate in this webinar, individuals are required to register using this link. A confirmation email will be sent that includes additional information about the webinar.

Questions regarding this webinar should be directed to Edward Butler via email or phone at 717-214-3718.

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