State Legislators Working on Health Insurance Exchanges! AARP
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Jason Speaks, Editor October 10, 2011 State Legislators Working on Health Insurance Exchanges! A bipartisan panel of Illinois legislators that is studying how to set up a state-run health insurance exchange was scheduled to issue its report late last week. As of this writing, the Illinois Health Benefits Exchange Legislative Study Committee had not released its report, which will be used in developing legislation that is expected to be introduced in the General Assembly’s Veto Session scheduled to begin October 25-27 and November 8-10 we will be tracking all the developments and provide the latest details as they become available. Under the Affordable Care Act, private health insurance plans will be offered to low- and moderate-income individuals and small business employers through state-based exchanges. The federal health care reform law requires that states establish exchanges by October 1, 2013. Meanwhile, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a report last Thursday recommending that the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) establish a package of essential health benefits in new insurance exchanges in line with the cost of insurance in a typical small employer plan. The report also urged HHS to be as specific as possible in deciding what health benefits should be required in individual and small group plans as health care reform rolls out in 2014. The IOM, one of the national academies of science that advises U.S. policymakers, encouraged HHS to seek as much input as possible from the health insurance industry, employers, and consumers in drafting the health benefit package. Stay tuned for the latest information and developments on the health insurance exchange issue and other note worthy issues that surface during the upcoming fall veto session in Springfield. AARP Releases Scorecard on State Long-Term Services And Supports AARP's Public Policy Institute released the report, Raising Expectations: A State Scorecard on Long-Term Services and Supports, which shows some states excel in the delivery of long-term services and supports (LTSS) for older adults and people with disabilities. Illinois ranked in the second quartile. Read the full report to find out what areas IL scored high in and those areas needing improvement. National AL Salary and Benefits Report Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service (HCS) is conducting its fourteenth annual Assisted Living Salary & Benefits Report. Nationally known, the Report is recognized as the standard for reliable and comprehensive compensation data for ALFs. The Report is published in cooperation with LeadingAge (formerly AAHSA) and supported by the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL). The Report covers management salaries, non-management wages, and fringe benefits. Last year’s Report contained data from over 1,690 Assisted Living Facilities across the nation. New to this year’s Report are Memory Program Director, Director of Information Services, Chaplain, Recreation Therapist, Lead Certified Nurse Aide and Lead Resident Assistant. Salaries and bonus payments will be reported according to revenue size, county, state, region, and nationally. In addition, both for-profit and not-for-profit data will be separately covered in the Report. Information on 18 fringe benefits will be reported according to region. Percent increases planned for 2012 will be reported for management, non-management, RNs, LPNs, and CNAs. PAGE 1 Completed Assisted Living questionnaires should be sent to HCS by November 18th. To download a copy of the questionnaire, go to www.hhcsinc.com. Publication is scheduled for January 2012. Participants may purchase the Report at a reduced rate of over 50% off the purchase price. Participants pay $135; nonparticipants pay $295. After Hospitalization: A Dartmouth Atlas Report on Post-Acute Care for Medicare Beneficiaries This is the first national report to look at how effectively communities and hospitals coordinate care for some of their sickest patients – those leaving the hospital after a stay to treat an acute or chronic illness. Without high-quality care coordination, patients can bounce from home to the emergency room and back into the hospital, sometimes repeatedly. Hospital readmission rates are increasingly seen as markers of local health care systems’ ability to coordinate care for patients across the full continuum of care settings: hospitals, rehabilitation and skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, clinician offices, hospice and home. Better care coordination promises to reduce readmission rates and improve patients’ lives while reducing costs. Click here to access the full report. EIV and You Brochure Clarification Issued HUD has posted a new notice, H 2011-25 (dated Sept 20) which essentially clarifies obligations for provision of the brochure to current residents and applicants selected from the waiting list – along with updated info on availability of resources (in English, and translation) for provision of the brochure as follows: O/As using the EIV system must provide each tenant household with the EIV & You brochure at the time of annual recertification along with a copy of the HUD Fact Sheet “How Your Rent is Determined”. O/As must also provide applicant households who have been selected from the waiting list for screening and final application processing with a copy of the EIV & You brochure. The brochure is translated into thirteen languages for distribution to non-English speaking households. O/As may order the EIV & You brochure (English version) from the online HUD Direct Distribution Center at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/dds/index.cfm, or by telephone at (800) 767-7468. Quantities ordered should be sufficient to cover distribution to existing tenant households and anticipated new tenant households over the next twelve months. The brochure is also available for download at the Multifamily RHIIP website. Translated versions of the brochure for non-English speaking households are posted to the Multifamily RHIIP website and on the Department’s Limited English Proficiency (LEP) website, located at www.hud.gov. These versions will not be available for order through the HUD Direct Distribution Center. The full notice can be found by clicking here. HUD FY2012 NOFA Information Released HUD has announced that the FY2012 Notices of Funding Availability (NOFAs) will be published as they are approved for publication in advance of appropriations so that prospective applicants can start preparing their applications. Although no timeframe is given (or possible, given lack so far of a completed FY12 appropriation), HUD states that the program NOFAs will indicate the approximate size of grant awards to be made so that potential applicants can prepare their applications in accord with the proposed award amounts. Once the appropriation is made, a technical correction will be published with actual funding as well as deadlines. PAGE 2 A notice has been published to familiarize you with the General Section of HUD’s FY2012 NOFAs, HUD’s policy priorities based on its Strategic Plan for FY2010-2015 and submission requirements for FY2012. The Notice can be found here: Please visit Grants.gov for additional details: – and to sign up to receive updates/changes. And check out the main Grants page on the HUD website for full details on grants.gov Contact: For further information on HUD’s FY2012 Policy Requirements and General Section, contact the Office of Departmental Grants Management and Oversight, Office of Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW, Room 3156, Washington, DC 20410-5000, telephone number (202) 708-0667. SLF Public Awareness Campaign Recently, the Affordable Assisted Living Coalition (AALC) hired a public relations firm, Me Communications, to help promote Supportive Living Facilities, raise awareness of AALC activities and events, and highlight success stories in the media on a year-round basis. Me Communications will be working closely with AALC and its members to elevate the visibility of SLF and AALC among the media, elected officials and the general public. Please help get the most out of this relationship by relaying any human interest stories, information on upcoming events, and inspiring anecdotes to Me Communications. Don't worry if you think the story is too small to be newsworthy! Let Me Communications determine how best to use the story...either in conjunction with other stories, as a stand- alone story, or as posts on AALC’s Facebook and Twitter Pages. Your stories, the stories you see every day, that will help put a face on the importance of Supportive Living Facilities. You share your stories and Me Communications will do the rest to help promote the work we do to the media and public. Follow These Three Steps: 1. Call/email/fax Wayne Smallwood at AALC with your contribution/idea/event. Wayne Smallwood (217) 525-0700 x-124 (office) (217) 622-0373 (cell) (217) 525-0780 (fax) [email protected] 2. Wayne will forward your story to Me Communications. 3. Me Communications will contact you with any follow up questions they may have. New Edition of Life Safety Code Fosters Home-Like Environment The 2012 edition of NFPA 101: Life Safety Code, produced by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to provide guidance for preventing fire and related hazards, includes new guidelines that promise to foster a more comfortable and home-like setting in long term care environments. The new edition recommends that states allow long term care communities to create more warm and inviting environments. For example, gas and electric fireplaces could be allowed in smoke compartments that enclose sleeping rooms. These fireplaces should be locked and sealed with a glass front and would not be allowed in individual sleeping rooms, out of concern for residents’ safety. Combustible decorations could be permissible in corridors, on doors, in resident rooms, and in common areas. Although the number is limited depending on factors such as if the building is equipped with sprinklers and where items are located, this change could allow residents more freedom with how they decorate their rooms.