Table of Contents:
- Congress Approves CARES Act - $2 Trillion in Nationwide Relief
- Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund – Apply for Resources
- IARF Webinar: Understanding the Basics of a Workers’ Compensation Claim Next Week
- Emergency Paid Sick Leave Webinar Next Monday
- BALC Publishes Guidance on Combining CILA Sites During Public Health Crisis
- IDHS -DDD Releases COVID-19 Rates Information Bulletin
- Child Care for Essential Workers
- HFS Publishes 1115 Waiver COVID Response Proposal
- IBC Automatically Extending Credentials
- DHS Budget Communication for Providers
- Guidance on Special Shopping Hours for Vulnerable Populations
- IDHS-DDD Releases COVID-19 Rates Information Bulletin
- IDHS Releases PPE Needs Survey
- NADSP Webinar Recording
- MITC Offers Providers Free Software for Duration of Emergency
CONGRESS APPROVES CARES ACT - $2 TRILLION IN NATIONWIDE RELIEF
This afternoon the U.S. House of Representatives approved the CARES Act, which we expect will be signed immediately by the President. This Act includes $2 trillion in various forms of financial relief for individuals and families, small businesses, large businesses, healthcare and NFP organizations. Earlier this week we circulated a summary of the major provisions within the Act.
Action on this package, as with relief package #2, will likely happen quickly. As such, we are all waiting for guidance from lead federal agencies (leave and unemployment – U.S. DoL) on how states, businesses, and providers can access financial relief and implement worker related policies. We will also continue to share information, guidance, and webinar information on the employment related topics as we receive it. Finally, we’ve advanced immediate rate relief recommendations to DHS-DDD and will continue to work with our colleagues in behavioral health as well.
We thank our Illinois delegation for including crucial additional resources for the health and human service sectors, while we acknowledge and must continue to push for additional resources for frontline staff, access to PPE, etc. (Contact: Josh Evans)
ILLINOIS COVID-19 RESPONSE FUND – APPLY FOR RESOURCES
During yesterday’s daily COVID-19 press conference, Governor Pritzker announced the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund, which was created “to raise funds from individual, corporate, and foundation donors to be disbursed to nonprofit organizations across the state serving individuals, families and communities hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
We expect funds to continue to be donated and understand several million has been donated already. We encourage member agencies to complete the online google form to log resources needs at your agency ASAP: Grant Application Request
IARF WEBINAR: UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF A WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CLAIM NEXT WEEK
Next Tuesday, IARF will host the first webinar in the workers’ compensation series, WC-101: Understanding the Basics of a Workers’ Compensation Claim. The webinar will be held on Tuesday, March 31st at 10:00am. In course 101, we will briefly discuss the history of Workers’ Compensation to understand how the current system of benefits came into existence. Our journey into the claims process will start with a discussion on compensability and what that means for the employer. Lastly, we will head down the path of what to do when an employee reports an injury, how to facilitate medical treatment, and working with modified duty restrictions.
At the end of this webinar, attendees will:
- Understand how we came to have our current system of Workers’ Compensation benefits.
- Understand what is meant by the term compensable, in a Workers’ Compensation claim.
- How to manage the initial reporting of a workplace injury.
Webinars in this series are FREE for IARF members to attend! To register for the first webinar, click here. (Contact: Maggie Henley)
EMERGENCY PAID SICK LEAVE WEBINAR NEXT MONDAY
H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act has been signed. Join MITC for an emergency webinar on Monday March 30th at 2:00pm EDT to learn more about the Emergency Sick Pay Law and how to track sick and FLMA pay.
- There are multiple rates of sick pay (paid at regular pay, paid at lower rate with a $ cap).
- Impacts all organizations with less than 500 employees.
Click here to register for the webinar. (Contact: Maggie Henley)
BALC PUBLISHES GUIDANCE ON COMBINING CILA SITES DURING PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS
Today, the Bureau of Accreditation, Licensure & Certification Division of Developmental Disabilities released COVID19 Provider Site Consolidation Request Form and Instructions. The form is to be filled out by a residential provider (CILA, CGH, ICF/IDD) to request approval from BALC to temporarily consolidate people living and being served from other residential sites. In the event that your agency would need to temporarily combine CILA’s, you must complete the above linked form and return to BALC at DHS.BALC@illinois.gov. If you have any questions you can contact BALC’s Angela Johnson at 312.965.5179 or Charlene Brown at 217.494.0423. (Contact: Beth Owens)
CHILDCARE FOR ESSENTIAL WORKERS
With staff working in I/DD and BH settings being determined as essential operations and services, it’s important to know they have access to emergency child care services. In addition, there are also guidelines set for agencies interested in becoming an emergency child care center.
For Essential Workers Seeking Child Care:
- Emergency Child Care FAQS
- A dedicated help line has been created so Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (CCR&Rs) can help connect essential worker families to emergency child care. Call toll-free (888) 228-1146. The helpline will be available from 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM Monday through Friday to answer calls, but callers will be able to leave a message 24 hours a day.
- To find emergency child care in your area, visit COVID-19 Emergency Provider Search.
- For residents in Cook County, Illinois Action for Children (IAFC) has launched a temporary text messaging service to answer Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) questions during IAFC's office closure. Text: 312-736-7390 Monday through Friday between 8:30 AM-5:00 PM. Priority will be given to first responders, health care workers, and essential workers to help them find and pay for child care.
Agencies that would like to become an Emergency Child Care Center must:
More information can be found HERE. (Contact: Beth Owens; Maggie Henley)
HFS PUBLISHED 1115 WAIVER COVID RESPONSE PROPOSAL
HFS has published its proposed 1115 Waiver to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read the
full waiver proposal here. You can view the
fact sheet here. In summary, the waiver seeks to do the following:
Mitigate the Impact and Community Spread of COVID-19
- Provide coverage at no cost to the uninsured for COVID-19 treatment;
- Eliminate out-of-pocket costs of COVID-19 treatment for the insured through secondary payer coverage;
- Provide temporary housing as a Medicaid benefit for individuals experiencing homelessness for the 14 day quarantine period;
- Receive federal matching dollars for Medicaid services provided to inmates without requiring transportation to an acute care facility; and
- Cover home delivered meals for Medicaid beneficiaries who do not have access to meals during the directed social distancing period.
Streamline Medicaid Application Processing to Provide Access to Healthcare Services Quickly
- Allow the state to determine aged, blind, and disabled adult applicants presumptively eligible upon receipt of application;
- Suspend transfer-of-assets rules for clients in nursing facilities and similar institutions;
- Allow self-attestation of immigration and citizenship status;
- Allow non-state staff to process Medicaid applications in additional locations; and
- Allow direct enrollments into Medicaid managed care plans through auto-assignment.
Preserve Access to Medicaid Coverage During the Public Health Emergency
- Extend renewal dates for 12 months.
(Contact Dan Frey)
ICB AUTOMATICALLY EXTENDING CREDENTIALS
The ICB is automatically extending due dates for credentials due to renew between March 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020. The Models for credentialing allow for a six-month extension. Members with credentials expiring between March 1, 2020 and July 31,2020 do not need to do anything to have this extension applied! Effective immediately:
- Credentials up for renewal between March 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020 will be extended through September 30, 2020, at no additional cost.
- The ICB will continue to send invoice reminders for all renewals with a link for online payment and online CEU submission.
- Continuing education units due between March 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020 will be extended through September 30, 2020.
- Online/virtual continuing education and Bibliocredits will be permitted to satisfy all continuing education units for renewals due between March 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020
The ICB will continue to monitor events and update further extensions as needed. Many trainers are moving in-person events to online events as quickly as possible. ICB will be updating our continuing education bulletin with new online/virtual trainings as soon as they are able. (Contact Dan Frey)
DHS BUDGET COMMUNICATION FOR PROVIDERS
This week, DHS Secretary Hou sent the following message to providers regarding the DHS budget:
Thank you for your patience as we work with you to maintain Illinois’ human service delivery system during this time. As we shared in communications on March 16, 2020 and March 19, 2020, IDHS is making every effort to sustain funding for organizations that are unable to provide services or able only to provide limited services because of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
IDHS is providing this sustaining funding so that providers are able to keep their doors open and can continue to retain staff, even with no or limited service delivery. Staff salaries and benefits should be paid and staff retained. Sustaining funding is conditioned upon continuing to pay staff salaries and benefits and IDHS will be tracking the same.
The federal guidance permits grantees to continue to charge salaries and benefits to currently active awards. In addition, grantees can continue to charge Facility and Administrative costs such as occupancy, insurance, taxes, and utilities. The federal guidance is being applied to state-funded grants.
Please see further payment information, below:
Expense-Based Grants: IDHS will continue to make payments for expense-based grants as normal.
Fixed-Rate Grants: For fixed-rate grants, please continue to submit billing information. IDHS will make grant payments equal to “average monthly billings x reimbursement rate.” The portion of the grant payments equal to “average monthly billings x reimbursement rate.” The portion of the grant payment not supported by service billings will need to be expended for costs (e.g. salaries and benefits, facility and administrative costs).
IDHS Funded Medicaid Fee-For-Service: For IDHS funded Medicaid fee-for-service providers, please continue to submit billing information. IDHS will make retention payments equal to “average monthly billings x reimbursement rate.” Retention payments are to be expended for costs (e.g. salaries and benefits, facility and administrative costs).
If you are unsure as to which of the above categories your organization meets, please contact you IDHS program contact(s).
At this time, subject to the Comptroller’s determinations and cash flow, IDHS expects payments to continue on roughly the same timelines without significant gaps or delays.
Please understand that new information and guidance is coming in each day. We ask for your patience and good faith and pledge the same to each of you in this trying time. IDHS will continue to provide updates, including FAQs, on the IDHS Coronavirus Website.
Thank you for your continuing commitment to the mission of IDHS: Providing equitable access to social and human services, programs and resources to enhance the lives of all who we serve. (Contact Dan Frey)
GUIDANCE ON SPECIAL SHOPPING HOURS FOR VULNERABLE POPULATIONS: COVID 19
IARF was recently in contact with the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA) regarding
Guidance For Special Shopping Hours that was released on their website in response to COVID-19. This resource provides a list of grocery stores that are holding special shopping hours for senior citizens and other vulnerable populations during this pandemic. Examples of retailers include Aldi, County Market, Jewel-Osco, Mariano’s, Walgreens etc.
IARF inquired on behalf of the I/DD community and IRMA provided excellent clarification that
any immunocompromised individual may shop during those special hours and that the hours are intended for those who have intellectual or physical limitations. It also
does include the person needed to accompany those individuals to the store. IRMA did state however, that these are just guidelines and retailers do not have the capacity to restrict consumers from their stores. (Contact: Luis Andrade)
IDHS -DDD RELEASES COVID-19 RATES INFORMATION BULLETINS
These Information Bulletin are a guide to Rates, Billing and Payments for The Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) Services during the COVID 19 time period. The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) continues to show they are committed to protecting individuals with developmental disabilities in Illinois during the COVID 19 Pandemic. As you are all aware, the CDC has released many guidelines to avoid exposure and as a result IDHS has ordered the closure of CDS sites. The two Information Bulletins are
COVID 19 Home Based Support (HBS) & Fee-for-Service Billing, Agency and Consumer Guidance and
COVID 19 Community Day Services (CDS) & Residential Rates and Reimbursement. (Contact: Beth Owens)
IDHS RELEASES PPE NEEDS SURVEY
From IDHS: In order to understand the acute needs for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) among community-based organizations across the state, DHS is requesting that providers consider completing
this short survey. The survey is brief; and it is designed to more precisely understand statewide PPE needs. Please note that completing the survey, unfortunately, is not a guarantee that you will receive the supplies, and it is not a purchasing order. As you fill out the survey, please give your best estimate of need over the next 30-90 days, accounting for both your organization’s staff and customer/client populations. A direct link to the survey is
HERE. (Contact: Luis Andrade)
NADSP WEBINAR RECORDING
At Noon today, NADSP hosted their follow up webinar,
The Role of the DSP and the Coronavirus. A link to the recording of today’s webinar can be found
here as well as additional information about upcoming/past webinars and resources below
:
(Contact: Maggie Henley)
MITC OFFERS PROVIDERS FREE SOFTWARE FOR DURATION OF EMERGENCY
To help providers manage the COVID-19 emergency, MITC is providing two easy-to-set up applications free of charge.
- The existing offer to provide myCommunications free of charge forever has been extended to 6/30/2020
- myMileage and Expenses is now available free of charge for 180 days
myCommunications helps providers maintain contact with their staff without relying on employees' personal email addresses - very important right now.
Download the fact sheet to learn more!
myMileage and Expenses allows staff to submit expense claims without having to come into the office. It also helps to make sure staff don’t suffer reimbursement delays for mileage, etc. - minimizes personal interactions.
Download the fact sheet to learn more!
Unfortunately, MITC cannot provide the software without one-on-one training, as the surge in Software Requests would compromise our ability to respond at the level customers expect.
- myCommunications one-on-one set up and training - $360.00 (3 hours).
- myMileage and Expenses one-on-one set up and training - $360.00 (3 hours).
For more information, email
McKenzieO@mitcsoftware.com
Please join us for a special free webinar on Thursday, April 2nd at 2:00pm EDT to learn more about software that can help providers manage this emergency and other more routine emergencies like snow days!
Register Here
