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Tags Posts tagged with "OLTL"

OLTL

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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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The Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL) Bureau of Coordinated and Integrated Services (BCIS) has announced the dates and times of the mandatory upcoming Critical Incident Reporting Training webinars. The purpose of the webinar is to provide guidance to Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Direct Service Providers and Service Coordinators regarding timely reporting of critical incidents using the Enterprise Incident Management (EIM) system and to review:

  • Who is responsible for reporting critical incidents?
  • When should a critical incident be reported in EIM?
  • What sections of the EIM Critical Incident Report must be completed?

The webinar dates and times are below. The requirement is to attend one of the sessions.

March 7, 2023: 9:30 am – 11:30 am
Register by March 1, 2023
Registration for March 7, 2023, Morning Session

March 7, 2023: 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Register by March 1, 2023
Registration for March 7, 2023, Afternoon Session

March 9, 2023: 9:30 am – 11:30 am
Register by March 3, 2023
Registration for the March 9, 2023, Morning Session

March 15, 2023: 9:30 am – 11:30 am
Register by March 8, 2023
Registration for the March 15, 2023, Morning Session

Within a few days after registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Please email OLTL should you have any questions or concerns.

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The monthly Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) Subcommittee convened on February 14, 2023. The meeting handouts included the agenda and a PowerPoint presentation from the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL). Some of the topics in their presentation included:

  • COVID-19 Vaccination Rates From the Community HealthChoices Managed Care Organizations (CHC-MCOs);
  • CHC Request for Information (RFI) Update;
  • Electronic Visit Verification (EVV);
  • Independent Enrollment Broker (IEB) Enrollment Data;
  • LIFE Enrollments;
  • Medical Assistance (MA) Unwinding;
  • Appendix K Waiver; and
  • Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Settings Rule.

The next LTSS Subcommittee meeting is scheduled for April 11, 2023.

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has released information about the Act 150 Program sliding fee scale for calendar year (CY) 2023. This information includes:

  1. 2023 Act 150 Sliding Fee Scale;
  2. Monthly Act 150 Participant Fee Report (Age 60 and Over);
  3. Monthly Act 150 Participant Fee Report (Under Age 60);
  4. Monthly Act 150 Participant Fee Reports (Excel Version);

Please note: the bulletin’s effective date is January 1, 2023. Collection of Act 150 participant fees based on the 2023 Fee Scale must begin on the bulletin’s effective date.

The above documents are available in alternate format upon request by calling (717) 857-3280. For future reference, a copy of this bulletin will be posted to the DHS Bulletin Results page for OLTL.

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) issued information and clarification on the recent increase to the Personal Care Home (PCH) Supplement for PCH residents currently receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or currently meeting SSI disability and income criteria while applying for SSI.

In August of 2022, the Pennsylvania legislature approved an increase to the PCH Supplement, retroactive to July 1, 2022. The supplement was increased from $439.30 to $639.30 for individuals and from $957.40 to $1357.40 for married couples. The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers both the federal SSI benefit and the PCH supplement. In January 2023, SSA applied the increase and began issuing retroactive payments in lump sums.

As indicated in the Personal Care Home regulations, 55. PA Code Chapter 2600, “If a home agrees to admit a resident eligible for SSI benefits, the home’s charge for actual rent and other services may not exceed the SSI resident’s actual current monthly income reduced by the current personal needs allowance.”

For the purpose of applying the regulations to the PCH Supplement increase, a resident’s actual monthly income should be calculated by including the increased PCH supplement beginning July 1, 2022, and applied as follows:

  • Residents and/or Representative Payees are expected to provide these retroactive payments to the PCH.
  • If a resident was admitted to a PCH between July 1, 2022, and the issuance of the retroactive benefit, the PCH is only entitled to the monthly increase for the months that the resident resided in the PCH.
  • If the resident lived in another PCH prior to admission to their current PCH, the resident and/or representative payee should ensure that the appropriate monthly portions of the retroactive benefit are paid to both the discharging and admitting facilities.
  • Resident-Home Contracts are not required to be updated for the retroactive benefit; however, contracts are required to reflect the actual charges for room, board, and services no later than March 31, 2023.

Questions about the status of individual retroactive and/or monthly SSI and PCH Supplement payments can be addressed by calling SSA at 800-772-1216. Additional questions about the application of the retroactive PCH Supplement increase can be directed via email. For information about applying for SSI and or the PCH Supplement, please contact your local agency.

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The Bureau of Human Services Licensing (BHSL) within the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has issued the following guidance on the lifting of regulatory suspensions for Personal Care Homes (PCHs) and Assisted Living Residences (ALRs):

On July 1, 2022, the suspension of various regulatory provisions under the state disaster emergency declaration was extended to October 31, 2022. On November 1, 2022, the remaining regulatory suspensions expired, and the full regulatory requirements of 55. PA Code Chapter 2600 (Personal Care Homes) and 55. PA Code Chapter 2800 (Assisted Living Residences) were reinstated.

While most of these regulatory requirements required compliance beginning immediately on November 1, 2022, certain regulatory suspensions included 90-day grace periods designed to allow facilities to fully comply with the regulations. That 90-day period will come to an end on January 30, 2023. Facilities are expected to be able to demonstrate compliance with these regulations beginning January 31, 2023.

A guidance document for Personal Care Homes and Assisted Living Residences includes a list of all applicable regulations that were suspended under the emergency declaration, the dates and details of the suspensions, and clarification on what providers can expect when compliance is being measured in their facilities.

Please note that compliance with annual training requirements is dependent on the 12-month training year for Direct Care Staff and Administrators, as determined by the licensed entity. Training requirements for training years that ended between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022, are required to be in compliance by January 31, 2023. If a training year began in 2022 but does not end until 2023, that training year is incomplete and compliance cannot be measured until after the conclusion of the training year.

Please also note that for administrator training years ending in 2023, all 24 hours of administrator training may be completed online, provided that at least 12 of those hours are formatted as a live training (e.g., Zoom, Teams, etc.). A maximum of 12 hours of online asynchronous or pre-recorded trainings are permitted.

Questions about this announcement and the guidance document can be directed via email.

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A Financial Management Services (FMS) stakeholder meeting has been scheduled for January 6, 2023, from 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm. During this public meeting, there be a discussion on the administration of FMS under the Community HealthChoices (CHC), OBRA Waiver, and Act 150 programs. Representatives from the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) and CHC Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) will be in attendance to discuss the FMS program.

Please register using this registration link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

If you choose to use your phone to call in, please use the numbers below:
Dial in: (631) 992-3221
Access Code: 335417876#
Audio PIN: shown after joining the webinar

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has issued the following announcement for providers that are working on enrollment applications for services impacted by Electronic Visit Verification (EVV):

Beginning December 16, 2022, certain Provider Type and Specialty Combinations will see a new question concerning EVV on the “Additional Information” web page when completing a provider enrollment application. This information will also be displayed on the Provider Enrollment Summary.

For additional information regarding this enrollment change, please see Quick Tip #264.

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The Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL) American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funding portal was launched September 30, 2022. Since the launch of the ARPA Funding Reporting portal, OLTL has received a higher than anticipated volume of portal access change requests, causing a delay in access to the portal. OLTL has also identified portal functionality and data discrepancy issues for which they are working with the Information Technology (IT) Development team to implement resolutions. As OLTL works to resolve the issues, the ARPA Funding Reporting Portal initial reporting due date of November 30, 2022, is being extended to February 28, 2023. Please reference the chart below for updated bi-annual reporting periods.

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

Portal Training & Support

Providers can use the DHS ARPA Reporting Portal User Guide to help navigate the new reporting portal. For portal access requests or questions, please contact the OLTL Provider Helpline at 800-932-0939, Option 2, or via email.

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