08/13/2020

Today's COVID-19 Report: Thursday, August 13, 2020

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Here are the latest need-to-know updates for Thursday, August 13 regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

CMS Webcast with Seema Verma - Today at 1:30 PM

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma is hosting a special National Nursing Home call today, Thursday, August 13 at 1:30 PM. Phone lines are limited, so CMS highly encourages participants to join via webcast.

Webcast registration is available here.

Participant Dial-In Number: (833) 614-0820 Conference ID 1964786

PBJ Staffing Data Submissions - Deadline is Tomorrow

Payroll based journal (PBJ) staffing data submissions are due by tomorrow, Friday, August 14.

PBJ data submissions were previously suspended under an 1135 waiver; however, this waiver was terminated effective June 25. Data for calendar quarter 2 must be submitted by tomorrow and will be updated in Nursing Home Compare on the next regularly scheduled update in October 2020. CMS is also encouraging providers to submit data for calendar quarter 1, though these data is not required. LeadingAge prepared an article spelling these requirements out.

Provider Relief Fund Application Process Open for Medicaid, many Medicare Providers  

Health & Human Services (HHS) has changed how it refers to some of the payments under Provider Relief.  HHS is now referring to Phase I of General Distribution as the payments that went to Medicare providers in April. Phase II – General Distribution is what is happening right now through the application process.

HHS updated its FAQs with new information, including an expanded list of who is eligible to apply for the Phase II funds. HHS also shared a Step-by-step Provider Guide that offers an overview of the relief fund distribution.

Providers that are now eligible for the funds are:

• Medicare providers who missed the June 3 deadline to apply for second payment by submitting their federal tax return and revenue loss information
• Medicare providers who’ve experienced a Change in Ownership in 2019 or 2020 under Medicare Part A & received no Medicare FFS in 2019.
• Medicare providers whose total General Distribution payments are not equal to 2% of their annual patient service revenue - NEW
• Medicare providers who previously rejected General Distribution payments and want to reapply – NEW

HHS noted in its FAQs that providers who are part of organizations that received a Phase I – General Distribution payment are no longer prohibited from applying for funds under Phase II. This means that some Medicaid providers who have not yet seen provider relief fund dollars can apply. All providers who seek funds under Phase II must apply through the Provider Relief Fund Application and Attestation portal by 11:59 PM on August 28.  

In addition, there will be a Provider Relief Fund – Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Dental Update Webcast today, Thursday, August 13 at 3:00 PM. For additional stakeholder resources, please reach out to PRFCommunications@hrsa.gov.

ODM Receipt Request for CMP Funds

The Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) shared that the hold-up in processing the CMP Funds for COVID-19 Communicative Technology is in receiving of the receipts. If an entity is providing receipts for several nursing homes, then it is difficult for ODM to connect this back to the application. The Medicaid provider ID number needs to be on any correspondence.

Following the attached instructions is imperative for ODM in processing of the receipts.

LeadingAge: Details for Next HHS Distribution to NH Not Yet Final

Though rumors abound regarding how Health & Human Services (HHS) is going to distribute the next $5 billion to nursing homes, LeadingAge reports that details are not yet finalized.

Further, LeadingAge reports that much of what members have seen was preliminary, i.e. HHS thinking at that point in time. LeadingAge is very much in the conversation with HHS and Health Care Association colleagues to work to the final details; expectation is that a final decision is coming in the next week to two weeks.

eServices Scheduled Outage: Home Health Review Choice Affected

Palmetto GBA will conduct a scheduled outage on the eService provider portal on Saturday, August 15, 2020.  Certain eServices functions will be affected. The outage is expected to last from 1 PM Saturday until 8 AM Sunday. Review Choice Demonstration functionality in eServices will be unavailable during this time. 

VHA Challenge to Include Home Care

Over the last two years, Challenge America and VHA Innovation Ecosystem have partnered to develop innovative solutions to the unmet needs of injured veterans and their families. In the past, Challenge America and VHA have offered a challenge for SNF/AL caregivers; there is now a challenge for in-home caregivers.

VHA Innovation Ecosystem and Challenge America are asking in-home essential worker to submit their challenges as these workers continue to provide services to individuals on a daily basis. The organizations are then encouraging innovators to come up with solutions to meet those challenges. On the submission website, in-home providers can also see ideas that other have submitted.  

Interested members are encouraged to reach out to Dallas Blaney with any questions. Submissions can be made here by Tuesday, August 18. 

LeadingAge Need to Know: COVID-19 – August 13, 2020

LeadingAge shares the latest coronavirus news and resources with members twice each weekday. This morning's update featured a message from LeadingAge Board Chair Carol Silver Elliot and new insights and tools from LeadingAge. 

Check out the full report here.

Questions

Please send all questions to COVID19@leadingageohio.org. Additionally, members are encouraged to visit the LeadingAge Ohio COVID-19 Working Group facebook group to pose questions to peers and share best practices. LeadingAge is continuing its daily calls for all members.  To participate in these daily online updates, members should register here.  

LeadingAge Ohio is working to ensure that the information in our daily alerts, on our website, and all coronavirus-related communications is as accurate as possible. However, LeadingAge Ohio makes no guarantees about the accuracy of the information.