E-News Updates

Governor Healey yesterday signed into law HB5620, the so-called PROTECT Act, which establishes statewide standards for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) access in sensitive locations, including nursing facilities, healthcare settings, child care centers, and schools.

On August 5, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) notified Skilled Nursing Facilities that were determined to be non-compliant with Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program (SNF QRP) requirements for calendar year (CY) 2025. Facilities that failed to meet applicable reporting requirements will be subject to a 2-percentage-point reduction to their Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Annual Payment Update (APU).

MassHealth has issued Nursing Facility Bulletin 201, effective July 1, 2026, which updates and supersedes Bulletin 197 regarding the use of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) OBRA MDS 3.0 assessments for MassHealth fee-for-service payment. Bulletin 197 primarily updates the MDS Audit Structure and Expectations.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized a nationwide expansion of its episode-based payment model for lower extremity joint replacements as part of the FY 2027 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) Final Rule.

It is important for nursing facilities to continue to be diligent in their infection control practices to limit the spread of respiratory illness to residents and staff. Nursing facilities must comply with the DPH’s guidance on Organizational Policies and Procedures for Mitigating Respiratory Illness and continue to identify and monitor respiratory illness metrics to indicate when there are increased levels which may necessitate implementing additional infection control measures.

The deadline for submitting Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) data for Quarter 3 (April 1 –June 30, 2026) is Friday, August 14, 2026, at 11:59pm ET. Mass Senior Care strongly encourages providers to submit their PBJ data before the deadline to help avoid last-minute technical or processing issues. 

The August 2026 Performance Score Reports (PSRs) for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing (SNF VBP) Program are now available for download through the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES).

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) has launched a new Certified Nursing Assistant training website with resources for employers, training providers and nursing assistants. The website is launched as part of the Direct Care Worker Career Pathway Initiative (CPI), which aims to modernize training standards, strengthen career pathways, and support a more sustainable direct care workforce.