The House of Representatives this week adopted its FY 2023 budget recommendation which includes an additional $40 million in funding for nursing homes to continue to fund nursing facility workforce wage investments. Mass Senior Care will continue to advocate for vital workforce funds over multiple appropriation bills including the FY 2023 state budget, the FY 2022 surplus budget, and the ARPA appropriation bill.

Members are reminded that Resident Care Assistant hours are included in the Commonwealth’s 3.58 HPPD requirement, Mass Senior Care has asked the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development for clarification on documentation required for the HireNow employer registration portal, and Civil Money Penalty (CMP) Reinvestment funds are available to certified nursing facilities to add portable fans and portable room air cleaners with high-efficiency (HEPA H-13 or H-14) filters to increase and improve air quality in nursing homes.

The DPH has released updated clinical guidance for COVID-19 therapeutics, CMS and the CDC will host a National Nursing Home Stakeholder Call on Wednesday, April 27 at 3:00 PM, and DPH and Mass Senior Care are strongly urging long-term care facilities to provide and administer the second booster vaccine to residents by April 30 or as soon as the resident qualifies for the booster.

Discussion on Monthly ICAR Assessments, the next CMS Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF)/Long Term Care (LTC) Open Door Forum scheduled for Thursday, April, 28 2022 from 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM, and MassHealth Business Support Services and LTSS Customer Service will be offering a Webex on May 5th at 1-2:30pm to review the recent changes to the transportation requests for MassHealth members (both fee for service and managed care members) residing in nursing facilities.

Join the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, and her leadership team, on April 26, 2022, from 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm to hear updates on the CMS Strategic Vision and key accomplishments during the first quarter of 2022.

Congratulations to Carla Pepka who was recently recognized with the National Activity Professional of the Year award by the National Association of Activity Professionals. Carla was honored at the Association’s recent Annual Meeting in Minnesota.

Registration is now open for the 2022 MassMAP Annual Education Sessions. This year’s education will be held in-person on May 17, 18 and 19 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm at 3 locations throughout the state – Taunton, Waltham, and Springfield.

In response to a recent Mass Senior Care Education Program survey, we are pleased to announce several new seminars designed to help providers refresh their skills and improve their clinical knowledge. We plan to offer virtual QAPI and Director of Nurses Leadership Training so please check our website frequently for updated program offerings.

The Centers for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) yesterday issued the 2021 SNF-CR (nursing facility), the REA-CR (the realty company), and the MGT-CR (management company/central office) cost reports and are now available for submission on the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) website via CHIA Submissions.