Table of Contents:
- Urgent Advocacy Update – Action Needed Now!
- COVID-19 Provider Expense Survey
- CMS Releases New CMCS Informational Bulletin
- IDHS- DDD Extends Bed Holds for Additional 30 Days
- CMS Approves Illinois Appendix K
- Economic Impact Payments for Social Security and SSI Beneficiaries with Representative Payees
- IARF, the ARC and Institute Develop Initial CDS Recommendations
- HFS Issues New Transaction Audit Number (TAN) Status Code 17
- Vote Yes For Fair Tax Organizational Sign-On
- I/DD & BH Provider Weekly COVID-19 Webinar Recording
- No Cost Insurance Program Analysis from The Horton Group
- Hiring Better DSPs Despite COVID-19 Webinar
- NatCon Offering Two COVID-19 Workshops
- Managing Financial Wellness Through the COVID-19 Pandemic Webinar
UGRENT ADVOCACY UPDATE – ACTION NEEDED NOW!
The Illinois General Assembly has announced that it will be coming into session next week in Springfield, and indications are that they will be attempting to finish all the state’s imminent business, such as the budget and the hospital assessment and COVID-19 responses, during that week’s time. As such IARF needs you to DISREGARD previous Advocacy schedules and join together in an All-Hands-On-Deck effort to lobby for a budget that takes care of Illinois’ safety net in the budget. It would be most impactful for these calls and social media posts to come TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY, MAY 20. Please make plans for you organizations and those who work and represent it to reach out during this period.
IARF Needs YOU to Prevent CUTS to Community Services in FY21 During a Pandemic!!! We Need Active Agency and Staff Social Media!
While the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the way we must advocate, advocacy for our budget requests needs to move forward!
As a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois is projecting a loss of revenue of over $6 billion dollars for next year! This could lead to cuts to service funding and wipe out gains we’ve achieved in I/DD and BH services these last few years.
We cannot afford to let our services see cuts when we have still not yet recovered from the Rauner Budget Impasse. IARF needs you and your employees to advocate to members in the legislature so they know the damage that could be done to providers who serve Illinoisans who rely on the safety net.
Though we must acknowledge the fiscal situation COVID-19 has wrought, we must make sure decision-makers are aware of the costs of not fully supporting the social safety net.
Click here to access the materials IARF has put together to assist organizations in contacting their legislative members and key legislators throughout the state. Though we cannot put these asks before them in person, documents attached include social media (Twitter & Facebook) links for legislators, district phone numbers, sample call scripts, and sample tweets and posts. If you are unsure of your state legislators, click here to locate your elected officials.
The issues we are focusing on are budget increases for both I/DD and BH services. While we must acknowledge that the COVID-19 crisis has upended state budgetary forecasts, decision-makers need to hear about the drastic impact it is also having on providers. Your stories working in the field will be key in reaching the hearts and minds of these legislators.
We cannot do this without your help! Thank you so much for all of your assistance and the hard work you are doing every day. Your passion and dedication are an inspiration. Stay well and stay strong. If you have any questions on any of the provided materials, please don’t hesitate to contact the IARF staff.
COVID-19 PROVIDER EXPENSE SURVEY
The IARF team is continuing to take opportunities to discuss the pandemic impact on providers with legislators and working groups. To assist us in this effort, we want to capture some data points from providers so we can aggregate for these discussions. Below is a link to a VERY BRIEF survey to capture some data on expenses and cashflow. Please complete the survey by 4:00 PM on Saturday (05/16) so we can be using them ASAP. Click here to access the COVID-19 Provider Expense Survey. (Contact: All Staff)
CMS RELEASES NEW CMCS INFORMATIONAL BULLETIN
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a new CMCS Informational Bulletin (CIB) to provide states guidance on how to temporarily modify provider payment methodologies and capitation rates under their Medicaid managed care contracts to address the impacts of the public health emergency while preserving systems of care and access to services for Medicaid beneficiaries. This guidance provides several options that states can consider under their Medicaid managed care contracts, including:
- Adjusting managed care capitation rates exclusively to reflect temporary increases in Medicaid fee-for-service (FFS) provider payment rates where an approved state directed payment requires plans to pay FFS rates;
- Requiring managed care plans to make certain retainer payments allowable under existing authorities to certain habilitation and personal care providers to maintain provider capacity and access to services; and
- Utilizing state directed payments to require managed care plans to temporarily enhance provider payment under the contract.
In addition to the options described in this guidance, CMS will consider, where appropriate, state requests to retroactively amend or implement risk mitigation strategies only for the purposes of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Contact Dan Frey)
IDHS-DDD EXTENDS BED HOLDS FOR ADDITIONAL 30 DAYS
CILA providers serving individuals who have gone to a family or other caregiver home during the COVID-19 pandemic, and who will surpass 60 days of consecutive bed hold, are reminded to submit a bed hold extension request for an additional 30 days (up to a total of 90 days bed hold) if needed. Requests should be sent through the applicable Independent Service Coordination agency as is the norm. If you have already submitted a request, it is not necessary to submit another one. The Division will approve all requests for an additional 30 days due to the pandemic. The Division does not have the ability to extend the bed hold past 90 paid days for providers. Providers wishing to discharge an individual past the 90-day bed hold would need to follow the traditional discharge process, including issuing official appeal notice to the individual. (Contact: Beth Owens)
CMS APPROVES ILLINOIS APPENDIX K
Illinois received approval from federal CMS on May 12, 2020 for Appendix K. Appendix K is a standalone appendix utilized by the state during emergency situations to request amendment to its approved waiver. It includes actions that states can take under the existing Section 1915(c) home and community-based waiver authority in order to respond to an emergency. Illinois Appendix is valid until January 26, 2021. (Contact: Beth Owens)
ECONOMIC IMPACT PAYMENTS FOR SOCIAL SECURITY AND SSI BENEFICIARIES WITH REPRESENTATIVE PAYEES
The Social Security Administration issued an update today about COVID-19 Economic Impact Payments (EIP) to certain groups of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries. Beneficiaries who have their regular monthly payments managed for them by a representative payee, will begin receiving their EIPs from the IRS in late May. Additional information about payments to beneficiaries with representative payees can be found HERE. (Contact: Beth Owens)
IARF, THE ARC AND THE INSTITUTE DEVELOP INITIAL CDS RECOMMENDATIONS
IARF, the Arc of Illinois and the Institute on Public Policy for People with Disabilities have worked collaboratively to host bi-weekly service provider discussions throughout this pandemic. In late April, it was agreed among the organizations that we should seek to quickly advance a series of recommendations by which Community Day Services might ‘re-open’ either under a less restrictive or ended stay-at-home order.
The group developed this list of initial CDS recommendations in a very limited amount of time. We understand the urgency to begin to engage in initial discussions as providers look to try to plan for the future in these unprecedented times. The recommendations were sent to DDD Director, Allison Stark, and her team late last week and the group was given the opportunity to explain the recommendations further on Monday. Director Stark is currently reviewing recommendations from other stakeholder groups as well. (Contact: Beth Owens)
HFS ISSUES NEW TRANSACTION AUDIT NUMBER (TAN) STATUS CODE 17
This notice informs Long Term Care (LTC) providers of a new Transaction Audit Number (TAN) status code “17”. This status code is being implemented in conjunction with the new LTC admission processing policies that were detailed in the February 27, 2020 provider notice entitled Implementation of New Policy for Long Term Care Admission Processing.
Effective in March 2020, Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) began processing pending admission TANs for individuals with active community Medicaid and updating the TAN status code to a “17”. The REF field displayed on the MEDI LTC Inquiry results will display “HFS3654”. This is to alert the LTC provider and the Department of Human Services (DHS) caseworker that the form HFS 3654 “Additional Financial Information for Long Term Care Applicants” may still be needed. (Contact: Luis Andrade)
VOTE YES FOR FAIR TAX ORGANIZATIONAL SIGN-ON
As you all know, IARF last December unanimously passed a resolution to support the Illinois Fair Tax initiative. As a part of that initiative, IARF has been participating in the Vote Yes for Fair Tax and Vote Yes for Fairness committees.
Vote Yes for Fair Tax has requested that organizations who support the passage of the Fair Tax constitutional amendment in November sign on to formally list their support. You can do so by clicking here. IARF has signed on as a supportive organization as well and will be hosting a webinar on June 10th for those who are interested in learning more about Vote Yes for Fair Tax; click here to register. (Contact Dan Frey)
I/DD & BH PROVIDER WEEKLY COVID-19 WEBINAR RECORDING
During this week’s IARF COVID-19 Webinar, we were joined by the SBA Illinois District Director, who attempted to field questions from providers. It remains clear from that office that they are also waiting on additional guidance. They were able to confirm that the additional guidance pertaining to PPP and Loan Forgiveness will be coming out hopefully in the next week. The SBA shared the following resources with IARF on our call yesterday:
In the event that you were unable to attend the Webinar, a Video Recording, is available. Previous recordings of IARF webinars are available on the IARF COVID-19 Website. (Contact: Luis Andrade)
NO COST INSURANCE PROGRAM ANALYSIS FROM THE HORTON GROUP
Have the experts at The Horton Group review your insurance program (benefits, liability, workers comp, etc.) at no cost. Given the added compliance and regulation caused by COVID-19 and the increasingly tight bottom line, we hope to provide insight and cost savings to IARF members. Key areas of opportunity on the medical benefits include:
- Leveraging carriers that are aggressive for new business opportunities
- Utilizing technology to communicate with a changed workforce
- Perfecting FMLA and leave management
- Conducting a full compliance review to ensure you are up-to-date with the latest regulations
Now, more than ever, it is imperative for Illinois human service agencies to take an active role in
their property and casualty insurance renewals. Carriers are imposing new limits on abuse and molestation coverages, umbrellas are being limited, and the workers compensation market is becoming more conservative. Horton’s Human Service Team positions our clients to yield the best results from the insurance marketplace. Our team brings risk management expertise as well as carrier and coverage specialization to mitigate risk, reduce workload, and lower costs for the following classes of business…
- Developmental Disability Agencies
- Alcohol and Substance Abuse Rehabilitation
- Residential/ CILA Providers
- Hospice/ Palliative Care
- Respite Providers
- Day Program Providers, and more
Utilizing our strategic insurance carrier network, the Horton Human Service Team can assist with the following lines of coverage:
- Workers Compensation
- Directors & Officers
- Property & General Liability
- Employment Practices Liability
- Abuse & Molestation
- Cyber Liability
- Umbrella and Excess Liability
- Special Event Liability, and more
The first step in taking an active role in your renewal is ensuring that your agency has appropriate coverages and losses are being mitigated. If you are interested in having The Horton group review your insurance programs at no cost, contact Liz Letke at Elizabeth.Letke@thehortongroup.com today! (Contact: Maggie Henley)
HIRING BETTER DSPs DESPITE COVID-19 WEBINAR
On May 27th at 1:00 pm CST. Blitz is hosting a free webinar, Hiring Better DSPs Despite COVID-19. COVID-19 has dramatically changed how you interact with potential employees during the hiring process.
Here's what you'll get out of this webinar:
- simple actions you can take now to feel more confident
- how to quickly adjust your interview process for social distancing
- reduce ghosting with quick changes
- a simple approach to get better information from candidates even when you can't meet face-to-face
Register for FREE at: https://www.blitzmediadesign.com/better-dsps/
If you have any questions, please call Scott de Fasselle at 513-445-2024. (Contact: Maggie Henley)
MANAGING FINANCIAL WELLNESS THROUGH THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC WEBINAR
Join National Disability Institute for a webinar on May 28th at 10am CST to learn strategies to managing and maintaining financial wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic. This webinar will highlight key components of the CARES Act (commonly referred to as the stimulus package), tips to managing Economic Impact Payments, and highlight new resources and tools that are available to assist people with disabilities and their families during this time. Click here to learn more and register today. (Contact: Maggie Henley)
