LATN News & Views
October 10, 2024

Hurricane Update: Reeling, Coping—and Preparing to Evacuate, Again. Members in North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee are managing the work of clean up—and at the same time, coping with tremendous loss and change in the wake of Hurricane Helene. But in Florida, members in communities located around the Tampa, Sarasota, and Fort Myers regions are repeating what they had done less than two weeks earlier, pre-Helene. Read more here and access disaster response and emergency preparedness resources from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

 

LeadingAge Tennessee has made a $2,500 donation to the LeadingAge Disaster Relief Fund to help support Members in-need during these challenging times and we encourage those Members who can, to consider donating to help your fellow provider Members in-need. 

 

Members in need: Please reach out directly to Amanda Marr to request support

 

LATN Joins Twenty-One States in Staffing Mandate Lawsuits. The LeadingAge Tennessee Board of Directors voted to join a lawsuit with not-for-profit and mission-minded providers to overturn the new CMS Staffing Mandate.  While we share CMS’s goal of ensuring all nursing home residents receive quality care, we don’t agree that the staffing mandate gets it right. Rather, the mandate is an overreach by CMS that places an undue financial burden on states, providers, and Americans. We, as co-plaintiffs, had the opportunity to express concerns about how the mandate will directly impact you, our members, and how it will impact access to care for older adults in our state. Read more here.

LeadingAge Tennessee Continues to Increase Member Benefits through Researching Grant Opportunities. While we are actively in our 2nd Assisted Living Facility Education and Safety Campaign Grant with the Tennessee Department of Health, we are also beginning an ARC study grant in November.  LATN will be sending out member surveys and forming a few study group meetings as we look how we can support staffing in of our long-term care communities.  Learn more about the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Grant here.

Recovery Support in Long-Term Care Facilities. Using $50,000 of INSPIRE funding, LeadingAge Tennessee will conduct a needs assessment and develop a comprehensive plan addressing SUD among seniors in LTC facilities. This will include exploring education and training needs for LTC employees on how to prevent, treat, and screen for SUD in their care population. 
ARC is proud to support recovery-to-work projects in Tennessee and across the region through our INSPIRE Initiative. From assessments and plan development, to using that guidance and bringing community-rooted programs to life, our INSPIRE partners are building recovery ecosystems that will help Appalachians not only survive and recover from substance use disorder—but thrive in a stronger, healthier regional future.  Learn more about INSPIRE here.

FEMA Public Assistance Policy & Guidance. A reminder, Private Not-Profit Organizations can apply for Public Assistance from FEMA during critical times of need.  Learn more about eligibility by reviewing pages 43-46 of the attached guidance document

 

 

Join the call here or by phone (629-209-4396) | Conference ID: 785 899 026

 

 

Our time in Nashville is just around the corner!  Don't miss out on joining alongside fellow Aging Services Providers from across the country as LeadingAge brings their National Annual Meeting + EXPO to our own backyard!  Haven't registered yet?  Don't delay! 

Also be sure to join us for We are 18 days away for our Walk On Song Exhibit Ribbon Cutting! When you see it, you will be so honored (and proud) that you helped make it happen!  Please make your plans to join us while in Nashville by registering through the link below:

Lastly, be sure to register for LeadingAge Tennessee's Plenary Session (taking place at the Annual Meeting) from 4:00-5:30 on Monday, October 28, 2024 - with our State Night Out will immediately follow from 5:30-7:00. It will be a special time as we acknowledge our past Executive Directors, (as part of our 35th Anniversary Celebration), show support to our very first Leadership Academy Fellows, and celebrate our Walk On Song participants that are able to attend.  There is no cost for Provider Members to attend; however, we ask that you please register in-advance so we can finalize our food and beverage needs.

We hope you have been enjoying our 35th Anniversary Newsletters so far!  Missed one of our Executive Director Reflections?  Visit the LATN News & Views Archive to find previous newsletters and stories! We cannot wait to see you in Nashville!

 

Harris-Walz Campaign Releases Proposal to add Home Care to Medicare. On October 8, Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on ABC’s “The View” and announced a proposal to add home care to the Medicare program. The proposal is to add at home services provided by home health aides, personal care attendants, or other qualified direct care workers with activities of daily living based on a clinical assessment of need. Under the proposal, these services would be offered at 20 hours or fewer a week and there would be cost sharing with a sliding scale. The campaign proposes to pay for this new benefit by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices for all drugs, not just the limited number authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act. LeadingAge released a statement on the proposal that can be found here.

IV Solution Supply Disruption Likely to Impact Providers. Storm damage from September’s Hurricane Helene is contributing to supply disruption of healthcare products including intravenous (IV) solution. Healthcare providers, including post-acute and long-term care providers like nursing homes, home health, and hospice, are advised to implement conservation strategies. LeadingAge is working with federal agencies to obtain up to date information and resources to support providers. Check out this resource from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Reminder: 21st Annual LeadingAge Ziegler (LZ 200) Report. Developed annually through a LeadingAge/Ziegler partnership, the LZ200 – now in its 21st year – is an eagerly anticipated report of the largest, most complex nonprofit senior living organizations. This year’s edition represents more than 300,000 market-rate units and nearly 1,600 market-rate communities across the country. It also outlines relevant business trends in the industry to showcase the variety of older adult services and offerings provided in this sector. Consistent with the last several years, the 2024 LZ 200 listing shows that not-for-profit senior living providers have grown primarily through community expansions from existing campuses as well as affiliation and acquisition activity. Nearly 30 percent of the total number of units for all senior living systems in the LZ 200 are represented by the 10 largest providers. Download the full report here.

New HOPE Tool Resources. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released two new resources for providers on the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool. First, a "Train-the-Trainer" program, which is a 30-minute self-paced learning course. It includes five sections you can go through in sequence or jump around. This program also includes interactive exercises to help you understand and apply the content presented. Second, CMS released the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) Quality Measure (QM) User Manual Chapter for HOPE Process Measures. This QM Manual chapter contains instructions on the calculation of HOPE-based quality measures. A more detailed manual will be available in Summer 2025. 

 

LeadingAge National Policy Pulse (Member Update Call).

 

Please join LeadingAge’s members-only briefing and analysis call, National Policy Pulse, with our experts every Monday at 2:30 PM CT. Members will now get updates from LeadingAge experts on policy, workforce, and more on Mondays on the Pulse. Your registration will keep you on the list for all calls in 2024, and we’ll send a new registration link to members for calls in 2025 so you never miss a beat. 

 

Join for the next edition of Pulse on October 16, 2024!

 
 

New Insights & Tools from LeadingAge.  LeadingAge staff experts are developing essential advocacy, guidance and tools, and curating the most relevant resources for aging service providers:

A complete timeline of insights, tools, and useful links is available here, so you'll never miss an update.

 
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Special Thanks to our Platinum and Gold Partners

 
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Contact Info:

Gwyn E. Earl

Executive Director

[email protected]

 

P.O. Box 14638

Knoxville, TN 37914

865.748.4932

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