AHCA’s ID/DD Hill Fly-in Event Date Set – Mark Your Calendars!

AHCA’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD) Residential Services Providers will be in Washington DC for AHCA’s annual Hill Fly-In event on Wednesday, March 7, 2018.  Participants will hear from Congressional speakers and others.  The event runs from 8am – 10:30am ET.  After the morning event is over, the ID/DD providers will head to Capitol Hill to discuss critical issues, including Medicaid.  If you have any questions relating to this event or would like to register (it is free to attend, and breakfast and lunch are provided), please don’t hesitate to contact AHCA’s Senior Director of Not for Profit & Constituent Services, Dana Halvorson. 

2018 AHCA/NCAL Quality Summit in New Orleans

The AHCA/NCAL 3rd Annual Quality Summit will be held in New Orleans on March 12-14. There’s nothing better than spring time in New Orleans. You can enjoy great food and music while taking in the historic sites of the city.

The Quality Summit offers education that focuses on quality improvement, or other critical areas that impact organizational performance and resident care. The Quality Summit is ideal for skilled nursing, post-acute, and assisted living professionals!

Check out the education sessions, events and sponsors online. You can also download a copy of this year’s Quality Summit invitation. Don’t miss these important dates and register today.

Long Term Care and the Law Program February 28-March 2, 2018

Consider attending the Long Term Care and the Law program February 28-March 2, 2018 in New Orleans, LA. This program is an exciting and informative meeting where some of the leading in-house and outside lawyers for the long term care industry will be presenting on legal, compliance, and operational issues faced by providers. The morning of February 28, the National Center for Assisted Living will host a round table open to all assisted living in-house counsel; this year the event will focus on emergency preparedness. The American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA) offers CLE, CPE, NHA, and CCB credits for the conference. AHCA and NCAL members receive the AHLA member discounted rate of $865. Don’t miss this excellent educational opportunity. https://shar.es/1M0J3R

U.S. Congress Passes RAISE Family Caregivers Act

Last year, Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) re-introduced the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act (S. 1028) in the U.S. Senate.  Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) are original co-sponsors. 

This legislation, which AHCA/NCAL supports, would implement the federal Commission on Long-Term Care’s bipartisan recommendation that Congress require the development of a strategy to support family caregivers.  The bill would create an advisory body to bring together representatives from the private and public sectors to advise and make recommendations.  The strategy would identify recommended actions that communities, providers, government, and others are taking and may take to recognize and support family caregivers and be updated biennially.  The U.S. House of Representatives version of this bill is The RAISE Family Caregivers Act - H.R. 3759.  Before the holidays, the House passed H.R. 3759 with a minor modification around the bill’s sunset date.  On, January 8, 2018, the full U.S. Senate passed the bill.  It now goes to the U.S. President to be signed into law.   

AARP notes that about 40 million family caregivers provide about $470 billion annually in unpaid care to their loved ones.  According to the Caregiving in the U.S. 2015 study from the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, about 3.7 million family caregivers provide care to a child under age 18 because of a medical, behavioral, or other condition or disability, and 6.5 million family caregivers assist both adults and children.

ICF/IID Reports

AHCA's Research Department has released the following June 2017 updates for use by AHCA/NCAL members:

• LTC Stats: Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IID) Standard Health Survey Report, June 2017
• LTC Stats: Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IID), Facility and Resident Characteristics, June 2017

If you have any questions relating to these reports, which include important ICF/IID state and national data, please contact AHCA’s Senior Research Analyst, Kiran Sreenivas.

Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Grassroots Advocacy – Facility Visits Over Recess

Holly Jarek, AHCA's ID/DD Committee Chair, encourages AHCA's ID/DD providers to participate in our grassroots advocacy efforts in 2018.  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-Halladay (pictured to the right), met with Representative Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5), 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 115^th Congress, second session, can be found here.  The U.S. Senate schedule for 2018 can be found here​.