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Tags Posts tagged with "OLTL"

OLTL

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has released the transition plans that outline how the Appendix K flexibilities will be phased out on May 11, 2023, with the end of the Public Health Emergency. The transition plans apply to the Community HealthChoices (CHC) Waiver, OBRA Waiver, and Act 150 program.

Since March 6, 2020, the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has been operating under an Appendix K Emergency Preparedness and Response amendment that was approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Appendix K allowed temporary changes to the CHC Waiver, OBRA waiver, and Act 150 waiver in response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.

Effective May 11, 2023, OLTL is discontinuing the emergency flexibilities noted in the attached guidance and is returning to pre-emergency operations. Providers should make any changes that are necessary to resume normal operations and be in compliance by May 11, 2023. Service Coordinators have been instructed to work with participants and providers to ensure a seamless transition to normal operations.

The transition plans have been updated to reflect the new expiration date for the flexibilities. In addition, as a general note, resuming pre-emergency waiver operations means the following:

  • All assessments, including the comprehensive needs assessments and reassessments, must be conducted face-to-face;
  • Service Coordinators must monitor participants and Individual Services Plans (ISPs) through face-to-face contacts; and
  • ISP meetings and development must be conducted face-to-face.

Questions about this information should be directed to the OLTL Provider Helpline at 800-932-0939.

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved the Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL) OBRA Waiver Amendment. Changes in the approved OBRA Waiver Amendment include:

  • Revised the Benefits Counseling service definition;
  • Amended the responsibilities of the Fiscal/Employer Agent;
  • Updated Appendix H Quality Improvement Strategy to the current process; and
  • Removed performance measure AA-6, as the data in AA-6 is being collected by AA-5.

The current approved OBRA Waiver document can be viewed here. If you have any questions, please contact the OLTL Bureau of Policy Development and Communications Management at (717) 857-3280.

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The agenda for the April 5, 2023, Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) Subcommittee meeting has been released from the Department of Human Services (DHS) Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL). The meeting is scheduled for 10:00 am – 1:00 pm at the Department of Education’s Honors Suite, 1st Floor, 333 Market St. Harrisburg, PA 17126. The meeting will also be held via webinar and remote streaming.

Included in this meeting will be Dr. Val Arkoosh, Acting Secretary of DHS, who will provide an update on the 2023 DHS priorities.

If you haven’t registered to participate in this meeting, the links and information are below:

Conference line:
Bridge Number: 1-415-930-5321 PIN: 224944600#
Webinar Link
Remote Streaming Link

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has released the fiscal year (FY) 2023/24 annual review instructions for the Home and Community Services Information System (HCSIS). Also included in this reminder for Service Coordination Entities (SCEs) are the procedures, the waiver transfer tip sheet, and the annual review tip sheet. SCEs are reminded that this annual review process is a good time to review their caseloads and finalize any disenrollments or inactive service plans.

If you have any additional questions or wish to receive the attached forms in an alternate format, please contact Brian Lester at (717) 346-0716 or via email.

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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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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has released the registration information and agenda for the March 1, 2023, Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) Subcommittee meeting. The meeting will be held at the PA Department of Education Building’s Honors Suite, 1st Floor, at 333 Market St. in Harrisburg, or via webinar from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm.

To participate in the meeting via webinar, please register here. When registering, please verify that you entered your email address correctly. You will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar if you registered correctly. Note that if you have trouble accessing the webinar registration through Internet Explorer or Safari web browsers, you should try accessing it through a different web browser, such as Chrome or Edge.

Dial In Number: 1 (213) 929-4212
Access Code: 315552949#.

Public comments will be taken after each presentation. Questions can be entered into the chat box during the presentations, and these questions will be asked at the end of each presentation. There will be an additional period at the end of the meeting for any additional public comments.

If you have any questions about alternative methods for submitting questions or comments during a subcommittee meeting, including options when no internet access is available, please submit them electronically.

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved the renewal of the Community HealthChoices (CHC) 1915(b) waiver effective January 1, 2023, for a 5-year period. Under the 1915(b) waiver, Pennsylvania operates the CHC managed care program.

As part of the CHC 1915(b) waiver renewal, the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) was required to obtain an independent evaluation or assessment of its CHC waiver program and submit the findings when renewing the CHC 1915(b) waiver.

The CHC 1915(b) waiver renewal and the Independent Assessment of the 1915(b) waiver are posted to the CHC-Supporting Documents website. Questions about the CHC 1915(b) waiver amendment or Independent Assessment can be submitted electronically.

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