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Links to AAHSA.org |
Aug. 6, 2007
This Week's Top News:
House passes CHAMP Act with Medicare Payment Freeze
Last week both the House and Senate passed bills reauthorizing SCHIP (the State Children's Health Insurance Program). The House bill contains numerous other Medicare provisions - including a freeze on the scheduled 2008 payment update for skilled nursing and home health care. The Senate bill only deals with SCHIP. House and Senate conferees must now work out a compromise between the two versions of the SCHIP reauthorization and reach agreement on what to do with the numerous Medicare provisions contained in the House bill. Without reauthorization, the SCHIP program will end at the end of September, and conferees will have to reach agreement by then.
Congress has recessed for August and legislators have returned home to work in their district offices and maintain visibility by attending local events. You should use every opportunity you can to meet with your legislators during August. We have two major issues: ensuring that the final bill reauthorizing the SCHIP program doesn't freeze the scheduled payment update, and that the final funding bill for the Department of Health and Human Services doesn't mandate the imposition of user fees on survey revisits.
To help you in your face-to-face meetings with legislators, we have prepared talking points on the payment freeze and on the user fees. We also have letters on Contact Congress on both issues. Contact: Marsha Greenfield, (202) 508-9488.
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What Do You Have to Lose? Final Rule on 2008 Medicare Payment Update
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have released updates to the 2008 Medicare prospective payment system for skilled nursing facilities and hospitals that provide skilled nursing and rehabilitation care to Medicare beneficiaries. The final rule increases the market basket by 3.3 percent. It also revises and rebases the SNF market basket from 1997 to 2004 to reflect changes in the average SNF's cost structure and industry-specific price proxies. As a result, the wage index adjustment to the labor-related portion of the federal rate falls from 75.839 to 70.152 percent; the threshold for the adjustment rises from 0.25 to 0.5 to account for market basket forecast error; and the special (128 percent add-on) for nursing home residents with HIV/AIDs continues.
If the payment freeze in the House SCHIP bill is signed into law (see discussion on SCHIP, above), then the market basket update will not go into effect. Contact: Iara Woody, (202) 508-9429.
View the final rule.
Tell the Story of the People You Serve; Earn a Chance for a Free Trip to our Annual Meeting
What better way to live your story than to tell it through the stories of the people you serve? That's why AAHSA is launching our second annual storytelling contest. We want to hear from you as well as your residents and clients about your organization's work. In particular, we are seeking stories about residents' and clients' challenges with the current long-term care financing system, resident and client involvement in Quality First, social accountability and community benefit programs and your efforts to increase diversity in our field.
Please submit your story online or print out a form to use. We also developed a form that you can share with your residents. Please fax all printed entries to us at (202) 783-2255. All entries from your organization will be entered in a raffle to win either an all-expenses paid trip to AAHSA's 2008 Annual Meeting & Exposition in Philadelphia or free registration to this event for your entire board of directors. Submissions will be accepted until Sept. 10.
Contact: Lauren Shaham, (202) 508-1219.
Print a story form for you and your residents.
Submit your story online.
Only Four Days Left to Apply for the AAHSA Ziegler Graduate Fellowship in Executive Management
You can earn the chance to receive $10,000 to attend the executive education program of your choice when you apply for the AAHSA-Ziegler Graduate Fellowship in Executive Management by Aug. 10. Administrators, CEOs, CFOs and other executive leaders of AAHSA-member organizations are encouraged to apply. To apply, submit an application form, essay, two letters of recommendation, a letter of support from your board chair and proof of your organization's not-for-profit status
Contact: Trish Calamari, (202) 508-9480.
Start your application.
Would Your Organization Know What to Do and Say in the Midst of a Crisis?
Find out what to do when you participate in our audio conference, Crisis Communication: What to Do When Bad Things Happen to Good Organizations on August 16, from 2 to 3:30 p.m., Eastern Time. You'll learn practical tips for communicating with all stakeholders - residents, family members, staff, the board, regulatory agencies and the media — before, during and after an incident. Secure your spot and register by August 13.
Contact: meeting@aahsa.org or 1 (888) 508-9441.
Read more information and register online.
Register by mail or fax.
Foundation Offers Culture Transformation Grants to Urban Nursing Homes: Apply by Aug. 31
Is your urban nursing home ready to move forward on its culture transformation journey? Then apply for The Hulda and Maurice Rothschild Foundation's "Home and Community Building II: The Urban Experience" by Aug. 31. The foundation will select two organizations within America's 50 largest cities to receive a $50,000 grant to help them enhance their work to offer older adults more person-centered care. The winners will be announced in early 2008.
Contact: Margaret Calkins, (440) 256-1883.
Start your application.
Wondering How to Earn the Public's Trust?
To become the provider of choice in your community, you have to share your story with the public. This can be done simply by talking openly and honestly about your programs. The public trust section of the Quality First Web site features resources you can use to tell the media, policy makers and most important, the people you serve about your organization's commitment to quality people can trust.
Contact: Bruce Rosenthal, (202) 508-9499.
See AAHSA Quality First Public Trust resources.
New AHRQ Resource Addresses Nursing Homes' Role During Disasters
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (ARHQ) recently released Emergency Preparedness Atlas: U.S. Nursing Home and Hospital Facilities to help local communities identify nursing homes that could be available and prepared to provide assistance during disasters. The Atlas includes maps for all 50 states with the location of hospitals and nursing homes in each state as well as the locations relative to the distribution of the elderly population six case study states. The publication also features Nursing Homes in Public Health Emergencies, a report that features the results of a series of focus groups about disaster- and bioterrorism-related planning activities among nursing homes in these states.
Contact: Evvie Munley, (202)508-9478.
See the atlas and the report.
CMS Delaying Deployment of the NPI Registry
CMS is delaying the deployment of the National Provider Identifier (NPI) Registry and the dissemination of health care provider data from the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), which was intended to be operational on Aug. 1. No further information on the new operational date is available. Additional information will be forthcoming on the Data Dissemination section of the NPI page of the CMS website.
Contact: Iara Woody, (202) 508-9429.
Start Planning Now for Assisted Living Week
We joined with the National Center for Assisted Living to develop an on-line planning guide and product catalogue for this year's National Assisted Living Week, Sept. 9-15 . Use it and develop activities that will celebrate your residents and staff as well as assisted living's value in your community.
Contact: Steve Maag, (202) 508-9498.
See the guide.
Our newest group purchasing partner, Select Rehabilitation, offers physical, occupational, and speech therapy services to individuals who live in skilled nursing centers and retirement communities. The organization's programs are focused on offering patient-focused, outcome-driven services that allow each individual to live a fulfilling life with dignity.
Contact: Shelley Wisnowski, (877) 497-7838.
Find out more about the program.
Administrator - Somerville, Mass.
CEO/President/Executive Director
President & CEO - Charlotte, N.C.
Vice President, Housing and Hospitality Services - Boston, Mass.
Vice President of Real Estate Development & Management - Boston, Mass.
Executive Director - Houston, Texas
Nursing/Healthcare
Regional Clinical Operations Nurse - Central Pennsylvania
Review the jobs online
Newsletter Tools
View Past Issues
Subscribe
Advertise
Contact Us
American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
2519 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008
Tel (866) 783-2242, Fax (202) 783-2255
This Week's Top News:
House passes CHAMP Act with Medicare Payment Freeze
Last week both the House and Senate passed bills reauthorizing SCHIP (the State Children's Health Insurance Program). The House bill contains numerous other Medicare provisions - including a freeze on the scheduled 2008 payment update for skilled nursing and home health care. The Senate bill only deals with SCHIP. House and Senate conferees must now work out a compromise between the two versions of the SCHIP reauthorization and reach agreement on what to do with the numerous Medicare provisions contained in the House bill. Without reauthorization, the SCHIP program will end at the end of September, and conferees will have to reach agreement by then.
Congress has recessed for August and legislators have returned home to work in their district offices and maintain visibility by attending local events. You should use every opportunity you can to meet with your legislators during August. We have two major issues: ensuring that the final bill reauthorizing the SCHIP program doesn't freeze the scheduled payment update, and that the final funding bill for the Department of Health and Human Services doesn't mandate the imposition of user fees on survey revisits.
To help you in your face-to-face meetings with legislators, we have prepared talking points on the payment freeze and on the user fees. We also have letters on Contact Congress on both issues. Contact: Marsha Greenfield, (202) 508-9488.
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 |
Join the Aging Revolution in Philadelphia with Keynote Speaker John Glenn and Special Guest Commentary from David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States. Complete details available at www.theagingrevolution.org |
What Do You Have to Lose? Final Rule on 2008 Medicare Payment Update
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have released updates to the 2008 Medicare prospective payment system for skilled nursing facilities and hospitals that provide skilled nursing and rehabilitation care to Medicare beneficiaries. The final rule increases the market basket by 3.3 percent. It also revises and rebases the SNF market basket from 1997 to 2004 to reflect changes in the average SNF's cost structure and industry-specific price proxies. As a result, the wage index adjustment to the labor-related portion of the federal rate falls from 75.839 to 70.152 percent; the threshold for the adjustment rises from 0.25 to 0.5 to account for market basket forecast error; and the special (128 percent add-on) for nursing home residents with HIV/AIDs continues.
If the payment freeze in the House SCHIP bill is signed into law (see discussion on SCHIP, above), then the market basket update will not go into effect. Contact: Iara Woody, (202) 508-9429.
View the final rule.
Tell the Story of the People You Serve; Earn a Chance for a Free Trip to our Annual Meeting
What better way to live your story than to tell it through the stories of the people you serve? That's why AAHSA is launching our second annual storytelling contest. We want to hear from you as well as your residents and clients about your organization's work. In particular, we are seeking stories about residents' and clients' challenges with the current long-term care financing system, resident and client involvement in Quality First, social accountability and community benefit programs and your efforts to increase diversity in our field.
Please submit your story online or print out a form to use. We also developed a form that you can share with your residents. Please fax all printed entries to us at (202) 783-2255. All entries from your organization will be entered in a raffle to win either an all-expenses paid trip to AAHSA's 2008 Annual Meeting & Exposition in Philadelphia or free registration to this event for your entire board of directors. Submissions will be accepted until Sept. 10.
Contact: Lauren Shaham, (202) 508-1219.
Print a story form for you and your residents.
Submit your story online.
Only Four Days Left to Apply for the AAHSA Ziegler Graduate Fellowship in Executive Management
You can earn the chance to receive $10,000 to attend the executive education program of your choice when you apply for the AAHSA-Ziegler Graduate Fellowship in Executive Management by Aug. 10. Administrators, CEOs, CFOs and other executive leaders of AAHSA-member organizations are encouraged to apply. To apply, submit an application form, essay, two letters of recommendation, a letter of support from your board chair and proof of your organization's not-for-profit status
Contact: Trish Calamari, (202) 508-9480.
Start your application.
Would Your Organization Know What to Do and Say in the Midst of a Crisis?
Find out what to do when you participate in our audio conference, Crisis Communication: What to Do When Bad Things Happen to Good Organizations on August 16, from 2 to 3:30 p.m., Eastern Time. You'll learn practical tips for communicating with all stakeholders - residents, family members, staff, the board, regulatory agencies and the media — before, during and after an incident. Secure your spot and register by August 13.
Contact: meeting@aahsa.org or 1 (888) 508-9441.
Read more information and register online.
Register by mail or fax.
Foundation Offers Culture Transformation Grants to Urban Nursing Homes: Apply by Aug. 31
Is your urban nursing home ready to move forward on its culture transformation journey? Then apply for The Hulda and Maurice Rothschild Foundation's "Home and Community Building II: The Urban Experience" by Aug. 31. The foundation will select two organizations within America's 50 largest cities to receive a $50,000 grant to help them enhance their work to offer older adults more person-centered care. The winners will be announced in early 2008.
Contact: Margaret Calkins, (440) 256-1883.
Start your application.
 3,200 Covenant signers! Have you signed yet? |
To become the provider of choice in your community, you have to share your story with the public. This can be done simply by talking openly and honestly about your programs. The public trust section of the Quality First Web site features resources you can use to tell the media, policy makers and most important, the people you serve about your organization's commitment to quality people can trust.
Contact: Bruce Rosenthal, (202) 508-9499.
See AAHSA Quality First Public Trust resources.
New AHRQ Resource Addresses Nursing Homes' Role During Disasters
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (ARHQ) recently released Emergency Preparedness Atlas: U.S. Nursing Home and Hospital Facilities to help local communities identify nursing homes that could be available and prepared to provide assistance during disasters. The Atlas includes maps for all 50 states with the location of hospitals and nursing homes in each state as well as the locations relative to the distribution of the elderly population six case study states. The publication also features Nursing Homes in Public Health Emergencies, a report that features the results of a series of focus groups about disaster- and bioterrorism-related planning activities among nursing homes in these states.
Contact: Evvie Munley, (202)508-9478.
See the atlas and the report.
CMS Delaying Deployment of the NPI Registry
CMS is delaying the deployment of the National Provider Identifier (NPI) Registry and the dissemination of health care provider data from the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), which was intended to be operational on Aug. 1. No further information on the new operational date is available. Additional information will be forthcoming on the Data Dissemination section of the NPI page of the CMS website.
Contact: Iara Woody, (202) 508-9429.
Start Planning Now for Assisted Living Week
We joined with the National Center for Assisted Living to develop an on-line planning guide and product catalogue for this year's National Assisted Living Week, Sept. 9-15 . Use it and develop activities that will celebrate your residents and staff as well as assisted living's value in your community.
Contact: Steve Maag, (202) 508-9498.
See the guide.
AAHSA's Money-Saving Programs: Beyond Savings
New Partner Offers Comprehensive Therapy Programs for the People You ServeOur newest group purchasing partner, Select Rehabilitation, offers physical, occupational, and speech therapy services to individuals who live in skilled nursing centers and retirement communities. The organization's programs are focused on offering patient-focused, outcome-driven services that allow each individual to live a fulfilling life with dignity.
Contact: Shelley Wisnowski, (877) 497-7838.
Find out more about the program.
Opportunities Available on AAHSA's Job Mart
Several career opportunities in aging services are now available and listed on Job Mart. Take a look. Pass along the news. If you have a job to post, consider using AAHSA Job Mart. Contact: Phillip Blackmon, (202) 508-9404.
Use the downloadable form to post a job.
Jobs posted in the past week (July 27 - Aug. 2):
AdministratorAdministrator - Somerville, Mass.
CEO/President/Executive Director
President & CEO - Charlotte, N.C.
Vice President, Housing and Hospitality Services - Boston, Mass.
Vice President of Real Estate Development & Management - Boston, Mass.
Executive Director - Houston, Texas
Nursing/Healthcare
Regional Clinical Operations Nurse - Central Pennsylvania
Review the jobs online
Newsletter Tools
View Past Issues
Subscribe
Advertise
Contact Us
American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
2519 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008
Tel (866) 783-2242, Fax (202) 783-2255