Mark Your Calendars – AHCA’s 2016 ID/DD Hill Fly-In Almost Here!

AHCA’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD) Residential Services Providers annual Hill Fly-In event will occur on Tuesday, March 1, 2016, at the AHCA offices in DC. This important event is free to attend.  Breakfast and a boxed lunch will be provided to registrants. Congressional speakers are being invited, a legislative update will be provided, and Hill visits will follow in the afternoon.  AHCA will provide one-pagers and talking points for registrants to take to the Hill.

If you would like to attend, please contact AHCA’s Senior Director of Not for Profit & Constituent Services, Dana Halvorson.  If you have any questions whatsoever, please don’t hesitate to let Dana know.  AHCA hopes to see you at this important event!

Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Grassroots Advocacy

Renee Naylor, AHCA's ID/DD Committee Chair, encourages AHCA's ID/DD providers to participate in our grassroots advocacy efforts in 2016.  AHCA would like to help you get facility tours and in-district meetings set up over future recess days.  Please provide your name, facility address, and email address and we will craft the invite and send it to you to send to the Congressional office.  The four brief steps for a successful facility tour visit can be found here.  Please feel free to contact Matthew Smyth and Dana Halvorson who can help you with all of the logistics.

Renee Naylor (pictured to the left) and AHCA’s ID/DD Committee member, Kelly Head (pictured to the right), met with Representative Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5) last year, during AHCA’s ID/DD Residential Services Providers annual Hill Fly-In event. 

U.S. Congressional Calendars

As you are planning your visits with members of Congress and their staff in Washington, D.C., or in your district, the Congressional calendars will be of assistance to you.  The U.S. House of Representatives calendar for the 114^th Congress, second session, can be found here.  The U.S. Senate schedule for 2016 can be found here. The dates in blue reference the times the U.S. Senate is in session.  The red dates represent when the U.S. Senate is in recess.

AHCA/NCAL Advocacy App

If you haven’t already heard about it, then we wanted to alert you to a great app that allows you to keep abreast of AHCA advocacy efforts.  Among other things, it provides important talking points, issue briefs and features that allow you to take action.  It will be useful not only to you, but serves as a great way for providers to weigh in.  You can get the app by clicking on the appropriate black box below.

 

Download our advocacy app!

   

NCD Releases 2nd Report on ACA and Disability

On January 26, 2016, the National Council on Disability (NCD) released a report entitled "The Impact of the Affordable Care Act: A 2015 Status Report." This is the second in a series of three reports that examines the provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that affect the lives of people with disabilities. To read the press release from the NCD on the report, please click here.  To read about and download the first report in this series, you may do so by clicking here.

VOR Corner

VOR is a national nonprofit organization advocating for high quality care and human rights for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). VOR empowers its members to make and protect quality of life choices for individuals with developmental disabilities.  Founded in 1983, VOR is a national 501(c)(3) organization governed by a volunteer board of directors and funded solely by dues and donations.  VOR represents primarily individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families/guardians.  VOR advocates that the final determination of what is appropriate depends on the unique abilities and needs of the individual and desires of the family and guardians.  More information about VOR can be found here.

Save the Date for the DDNA’s 24th Annual Education Conference

• When: April 2nd-4th, 2016 with a pre-conference program on April 1st, 2016.
• Where: Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa & Marina in San Diego, California
• What: The premier education conference for nurses practicing in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities.
• To make reservations or to learn more, please visit: www.ddna.org 

We’ve Got You Covered! AHCA/NCAL Insurance Solutions Website

The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) now offers a variety of comprehensive insurance programs to meet your business needs. Backed by the strength of our membership, AHCA/NCAL Insurance Solutions programs are designed with exclusive member savings and discounts for both the fully-insured or self-insured members.

The program offers health insurance options, group and voluntary benefit packages, an aggressive Stop-Loss insurance program as well as cloud based HR platforms that will help members achieve savings and greater efficiencies on HR services within your company, while also tracking and reporting on key Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements.  For more information, please contact AHCA’s Dave Kyllo at dkyllo@AHCA.org and visit the AHCA/NCAL Insurance Solutions website.  

AHCA’s State of the States Clearinghouse

AHCA members have access to key Medicaid and Medicare information through the State of the States Clearinghouse.  The AHCA State of the States Clearinghouse is a one stop shop for key Medicaid and Medicare information impacting the long term care profession.   

 

This resource provides valuable data, including:

• Overview of the demographic landscape;
• State-specific nursing center occupancy and ownership breakouts; 
• Certificate of Need requirements for nursing centers and state licensure requirements; 
• State data on the cost of care for long term services and supports;  
• State data on the total number of Medicare enrollees; 
• Data on state Medicare Advantage plan enrollees and comparisons to the national average; 
• State and national Medicaid expenditure data;
• State Medicaid rates, costs and shortfalls;
• And other significant state-specific data related to payment structure, managed long term services and home and community based services coverage.

AHCA will continue to provide the most up-to-date information through the Clearinghouse and share new data/resources as they become available.  Also be sure to visit the AHCA Medicaid Page to learn more about the program and to access additional AHCA members-only Medicaid resources.

Articles and Resources of Interest

• Study Links Diabetes, Obesity in Moms-to-Be to Higher Autism Risk in Kids – healthfinder.gov
• Mistakes During Delivery Rarely Cause Newborn Brain Damage, Study Contends –  healthfinder.gov
• Birth Defect Fears Prompt Global Health Emergency – disabilityscoop.com
• In Bid To Understand Autism, Scientists Turn To Monkeys – disabilityscoop.com
• Autism Speaks Names New President – disabilityscoop.com
• For Some, Wait For Disability Services Is Over – disabilityscoop.com
• Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility, Enrollment, Renewal, and Cost-Sharing Policies as of January 2016: Findings from a 50-State Survey – kff.org
• Trends in Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility Over Time – kff.org
• Issue Brief:  Health and Wellness for People with IDD – aaidd.org
• It’s Time to Change the Way We Talk About Aging – linkedin.com
• More Evidence Preterm Birth Could Raise Autism Risk – healthfinder.gov

Legislative and Agency Corner

• Obama Administration Delaying Web Accessibility Rules – disabilityscoop.com
• Bill Would Expand Access To Community Living – disabilityscoop.com
• 5 States Shaking Up Medicaid in 2016 – governing.com
• Persons Dually Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid – MACPAC/MedPAC Data Book – macpac.gov
• Medicare and Medicaid:  Additional Oversight Needed of CMS's Demonstration to Coordinate the Care of Dual-Eligible Beneficiaries – gao.gov
• Phone Scams Continue to be a Serious Threat, Remain on IRS “Dirty Dozen” List of Tax Scams for the 2016 Filing Season – irs.gov
• Phishing Remains on the IRS “Dirty Dozen” List of Tax Scams for the 2016 Filing Season – irs.gov
• Flu Activity Forecasting Website Launched – cdc.gov
• Legal and Financial Planning for People with Alzheimer's Disease Fact Sheet – nia.nih.gov
• No 'midnight regulations' in last year of administration, feds say – mcknights.com

Webinars of Interest

Stay informed and tune in to AHCA/NCAL-hosted pre-recorded and live webinars on a number of topics impacting the long term care profession. 

AHCA/NCAL Learning Management Website

AHCA/NCAL has recently launched a comprehensive online Learning Management System to support the training needs of its members. The website, known as ahcancalED, contains a wealth of information including educational programs, webinars, instructional videos, training courses, and other tools. It is available free to AHCA/NCAL members.

"We created ahcancalED for our members who do not have the time or budget to develop the newest in-service training," said Dr. David Gifford, AHCA/NCAL Senior Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs. "Our objective also was to provide the best and latest educational tools, especially as CMS increases its regulatory requirements about staff training and competency in a number of areas. ahcancalED is designed to help individuals in our profession do a better job of caring for patients and residents and advance in their careers."

The information on ahcancalED is structured to make the online learning experience engaging, meaningful, and interactive for users. The fresh graphics and clearly defined sections within the site make it easy for users to navigate and find the information they need. The site also allows users to track their own learning progress.

Teams of experts from around the country working with AHCA/NCAL staff helped to create the content. "We will constantly be adding new programs and materials so that we can keep the site fresh and dynamic," said Gifford. "We'll continue to look for new ways the site can grow and serve our members. It's a great value-added benefit and a tangible example of our commitment to enhancing quality."

ahcancalED can be accessed at https://educate.ahcancal.org/. Suggestions for content or other site enhancements can be submitted to the ahcancalED team at educate@ahca.org. AHCA/NCAL welcomes ideas that will help improve quality and strengthen the knowledge, skills and attitudes of staff in the long term and post-acute care community.

Motivation: What Moves You?

Dr. Bryan K. Williams notes on his blog, “What motivates you? What moves you? What inspires you to be more than you usually are? People oftentimes ask me questions like that. The truth is, several things motivate me. For the purpose of this article, I will only focus on two.

#1: I am motivated by seeing people treated well. I mean exceptionally well. It particularly excites me when the recipient of the kindness and the giver of the kindness don’t know each other. I love that!

#2: I am also motivated by seeing people who work with pride, passion, and professionalism. You know the ones. The men and women who work with a purpose. You can feel that they didn’t wake up to be mediocre, and they are not going to sleep mediocre. These are the ones who always look for ways to do more than is expected of them.”  To read the full blog posting, please click here.  

Dr. Williams is a consultant, trainer, and author, who focuses on the areas of service excellence and organizational effectiveness.  He has spoken at numerous AHCA/NCAL events, and his passion is to serve others so they may better serve the world.  Here is a link where you can see some of Dr. Williams’ book recommendations on service, leadership and personal development.

From the Blog of Josh Linkner

Noted on the Josh Linkner blog, “To Josh Linkner, creativity and innovation are the lifeblood of all human progress. As such, he’s spent his career harnessing the power of creative disruption.  His journey has been non-traditional at every step. As the founder and CEO of four tech companies, Josh built his businesses from a blank page into a combined value of over $200 million. As a hyper-growth CEO of over 20 years, he’s used innovative approaches to topple competitors, fight through adversity, and achieve at the highest levels.”  The bio section of Linkner’s blog goes on to include that, “Josh is an internationally-recognized thought leader and top-rated keynote speaker on innovation, creativity, reinvention, and hyper-growth leadership. His keynotes are focused on not only inspiring audiences, but also sharing actionable strategies to drive meaningful outcomes.”  Read some of Linkner’s blogs below.

• How “Micro-Innovations” Can Drive Breakaway Results
• What do Ford and Amazon Have In Common (And What Can You Learn From Them)?
• How Going Big Can Actually Reduce Risk
• Chew On This!
• Life Give You Lemons? Make Tacos.

National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities

The National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD) holds a monthly call or webinar concerning topics of interest to those who work in the field of aging and disability.  One of the past calls focused on resources for people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias and their caregivers.  Information about future calls, and audio recording of previous ones, can be found here.

Upcoming 2016 Events

• AHCA’s ID/DD Hill Fly-In Event – March 1, 2016
• Developmental Disabilities:  Update for Health Professionals – March 3-4, 2016
• AHCA/NCAL Independent Owner Leadership Conference – March 16 – 18, 2016

2016 Health Care Observances

The 2016 AHCA/NCAL Health Care Observances Calendar can be found here.  March 2016 marks, among other observances, National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, Brain Injury Awareness Month, and National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.