ID/DD Advocates Hit The Hill During National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

On March 1, American Health Care Association provider members who service the Intellectual and Developmentally Disabled (ID/DD) took to Capitol Hill to advocate on behalf of their patients.

The group, in Washington for the annual ID/DD In-Person Committee Meeting, first heard from Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) as well as current and former Hill staffers before meeting with their Members of Congress to urge them to preserve Medicaid funding, among other priorities.

Nine states were represented on Capitol Hill and AHCA providers met with members of the power Energy and Commerce and Finance Committees, which control the majority of Medicaid policy in the House and Senate, respectively.  For more information about the ID/DD efforts, contact Dana Halvorson or check out the website.  March is also National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, in which more details can be found here. 

Photo Caption: Provider members from the Idaho Health Care Association meet with Sen. Jim Risch (L-R: Brett Waters, Jamie Anthony, Sen. Risch, Tiffany Redden, Robert VandeMerwe).

Nominate One Hero to Honor All

You have now entered the 2016 AHCA/NCAL Awards season!  Please submit your nominee for the IDDD Hero of the Year award.  This award honors individuals who have shown commitment, dedication, and compassion in serving persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their families.  These wonderful and caring people need to know how much management appreciates them.  Nomination forms for the Hero award are available now here, and must be submitted to AHCA by May 23, 2016. 

Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Grassroots Advocacy

Holly Jarek, 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.

AHCA's ID/DD Committee members, Renee Naylor (pictured to the left) and 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. 

At Congressional Briefing, We Pack a lot into Two Days

Keynote Speaker Chuck Todd, NBC News Political Director and Host of Meet the Press and MTP Daily, will bring in current events in the context of politics and the upcoming election. More special guests will be announced shortly.

Join us in Washington, D.C.
May 23-24, 2016
Renaissance Washington, D.C. Downtown Hotel

Get all the details and register today. Congressional Briefing is a unique and critical opportunity to meet and discuss key issues in long term and post-acute care, and then take meaningful action by speaking directly to your Representatives.

• Earn 8.5 CEUs
• Find out all the latest news from Capitol Hill
• Discuss and plan around key talking points for Congressional visits
• Meet with your Members of Congress and their staff

The conference registration fee is complimentary to AHCA/NCAL Members and AHCA/NCAL Associate Business Members, and their spouses, and is accepted on a first-come basis. All registrations include continental breakfast, networking lunch, and cocktail reception.

Make Your Hotel Reservations Early
Rooms fill fast in the spring time as D.C. is a popular destination. Make your hotel reservations today and register for Congressional Briefing.

See the complete agenda at cb.ahcancal.org. The Advanced Registration deadline is April 22.

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!

   

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

• New Website To Serve As ABLE Account Clearinghouse – disabilityscoop.com
• Shortage Of Caregivers Leaves Families Scrambling – disabilityscoop.com
• Autism Therapy To Become Mandatory Benefit For Federal Workers – disabilityscoop.com
• Judges Learn How To Work With Defendants On The Spectrum – disabilityscoop.com
• Drug May Jump-Start Communication In Those With Autism – disabilityscoop.com
• Federal Panel Rejects Universal Autism Screening – disabilityscoop.com
• Emergency Rooms Go Sensory-Friendly – disabilityscoop.com
• States Developing Alternatives To Sheltered Workshops – disabilityscoop.com
• Study: Wandering A ‘Pervasive Problem’ For Kids With Disabilities – disabilityscoop.com
• New syndrome which causes obesity and intellectual disability identified – medicalnewstoday.com
• Improvements in Brain Injury Data Collection – va.gov
• Caring for Veterans with TBI – caregiver.va.gov
• Does poor sleep raise risk for Alzheimer’s disease? – nia.nih.gov
• Find Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Clinical Trials – nia.nih.gov
• Daily Activities: Alzheimer's Caregiving Tips – nia.nih.gov
• Health Tip: Understanding the Signs of Alzheimer's – healthfinder.gov
• Common Colds: Protect Yourself and Others – cdc.gov
• Weekly US Map: Influenza Summary Update – cdc.gov

Legislative and Agency Corner

• AHCA/NCAL Reacts to President Obama's Proposed Budget – ahcancal.org
• AHCA/NCAL Responds to Senate Finance Request on Chronic Care – ahcancal.org
• Under Obama Budget, Disability Program Funding Little Changed – disabilityscoop.com
• FY 2017 ACL Budget Statement – acl.gov
• IRS Wraps Up the "Dirty Dozen" List of Tax Scams for 2016 – irs.gov

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.  On April 5, 2016, from 2:00 – 3:15pm EDT AHCA/NCAL will hold a webinar entitled, “A Common Sense Approach to Diabetes Management in Post-Acute and Long Term Care.”  To learn more details and register for it, please click here.

In addition, the AADMD is offering a free, 7.0 credit-hour webinar series based on the first internationally vetted curriculum in Developmental Medicine created in the United States. This series is designed to enhance the practice skill of nurse practitioners and nurse practitioner students who would like to provide better care to their adult patients with developmental disabilities.  To watch the webinar series, please click here.   

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.

The Smile Reserve

 

Dr. Bryan K. Williams notes on his blog, “If you are in the business of serving people, the assumption is that you actually like people.  Regardless of the industry, the vast majority of people you serve will, in fact, be complete strangers.  This means that if you don't enjoy being nice to people you don't know, then you are probably in the wrong line of work.”   

He goes on to note, “There is something beautiful about someone who knows there is no limit to their kindness. They know that their smiles won't, somehow, vanish when used often.  They also know that by approaching service with love in their heart that customers will always feel genuinely cared for.” 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.

• Mind the Gap
• Can Innovation Save 1.3 Million Lives Each Year?
• Overpromise
• 21 Creativity Quotes 

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

• National Nursing Home Week – May 8 – 14
• AHCA/NCAL 67^th Annual Convention & Expo – October 16 – 19, 2016
• 26th Alzheimer Europe Conference – October 31 – November 2, 2016

2016 Health Care Observances

The 2016 AHCA/NCAL Health Care Observances Calendar can be found here.  April 2016 marks, among other observances, National Occupational Therapy Month, National Parkinson’s Awareness Month, and Stress Awareness Month.