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What Have We Done for YouLately? – October 2019

In addition to preparing for our successful 2019 Annual Meeting & EXPO, which brought more than 8,000

providers and other attendees to San Diego, LeadingAge made waves on several fronts in October. Here’s an

overview of our work for you in the last month.

OFFERED SOLUTIONS TO STRENGTHEN THE LTSS WORKFORCEIt’s going to take a full-court press to make sure we have a quali�ed workforce to provide services and

supports to the growing number of older adults. And a full-court press is exactly what LeadingAge

brought to the workforce crisis during October.

Educating Young People: In addition to o�ering 18 workforce-related conference sessions, LeadingAge

made it possible for close to 70 college students to attend the 2019 Annual Meeting. We hope the

experience helped build awareness of our �eld among these young people so they will pursue careers

with LeadingAge member organizations.

Proposing Bold Policies: Just before leaving for San Diego, we proposed a bold set of policy

recommendations aimed at engaging foreign-born workers in our e�orts to strengthen the long-term

services and supports (LTSS) workforce. LeadingAge sta� and members will work hard to disseminate

IMAGINE: International Migration of Aging and Geriatric Workers in Response to the Needs of Elders to

members of Congress so we can build awareness about our workforce crisis and garner support for this

potential—and partial—solution.

O�ering Recruitment Resources: Our Center for Workforce Solutions released an extensive set of tools

and resources geared to help you recruit workers to your organization. Our special “Recruitment Tools”

website includes myriad resources to help you:

OUR STORY | NOVEMBER 06, 2019 | BY GERALYN MAGAN

11/14/2019 What Have We Done for You Lately? – October 2019 | LeadingAge

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In addition, the Recruitment Tools website includes 33 mini-podcasts featuring a variety of individuals—

displaced workers, immigrants and refugees, men, older adults, veterans, and people in second careers—

who explain why they chose to work in our �eld.

WROTE 2 LETTERS TO SEEMA VERMARed Hand Icon: On Oct. 8, LeadingAge mounted a campaign to halt the red hand icon that CMS has

started attaching to the Nursing Home Compare pro�les of nursing homes cited for abuse. The

LeadingAge campaign emphasizes that abuse and poor-quality care cannot be tolerated or excused. But it

also maintains that the CMS icon will neither increase transparency nor help consumers pick the right

nursing home for themselves or a family member.

In an Oct. 14 letter to Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

(CMS), LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan urged CMS to continue its e�orts to make

Nursing Home Compare more intuitively useful and less complicated for consumers. But she concluded

that “adding this ‘red alert’ warning system is a step in the wrong direction.”

In an Oct. 8 statement and an Oct. 21 blog post in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, Sloan urged CMS to

“�x the survey system before we start adding this warning sign.” LeadingAge also issued an action alert

and disseminated talking points explaining the dangers the icon poses for consumers and providers. To

date, more than 2,000 people have sent letters to CMS expressing their concern.

Requirements of Participation: In a second letter to Verma on Oct. 18, Sloan expressed concern about the

lack of timely guidance from CMS on Phase III of the Requirements of Participation (RoPs), and asked

CMS to extend the Nov. 28 RoPs deadline.

Reach students in K-12.

Reach nontraditional populations, including displaced workers, immigrants and refugees, men, older

adults, and veterans.

Recruit workers for a diverse set of jobs.

Prepare for a job fair.

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“We have made every e�ort to help our members prepare for Phase III,” she wrote. “Our members have

put substantial e�ort into planning and compliance. But without the speci�cs of compliance from CMS,

both providers and surveyors are working in the dark.”

ADVOCATED WITH HUD AND CMMIHUD: We submitted comments opposing a move by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban

Development (HUD) to revise the disparate impact standard under the Fair Housing Act. We pointed out

that HUD’s proposal would make it hard for residents and applicants to prove discrimination, and for

developers to challenge zoning rules when they encounter resistance to local construction e�orts.

CMMI: During a meeting with key sta� of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI),

LeadingAge and 4 partners—American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association, American Health

Care Association, National Association of Home Care and Hospice, and National Association of Long

Term Hospitals—presented our individual and shared perspectives on future alternative payment

models.

CREATED RESOURCES FOR YOULeadingAge released a variety of helpful materials for you in October:

A new Medicare Advantage (MA) Supplemental Bene�ts toolkit from our Center for Managed Care

Solutions & Innovations will help you to understand how MA supplemental bene�ts work, and how

to assess the activity in your market, evaluate the opportunity, decide which plans to approach, and

outline the bene�t of your services in terms the plans understand.

A new Health Information Exchange (HIE) selection tool from our Center for Aging Services

Technologies includes a white paper, an interactive guide, an online selection tool and matrix of

existing HIEs, and 3 provider case studies.

The LeadingAge Quality Professional’s Resource Guide For Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) helps quality

professionals in SNFs hit the ground running by compiling all the resources they need in one handy

guide.

New learning tools from The LeadingAge Learning Hub included a Virtual Policy Update on the new

RAD for PRAC authority from the director of HUD’s O�ce of Recapitalization; a webinar on

Implementing Firearms and Other Weapons Policies; and 2 QuickCasts exploring 10 Things to Know

11/14/2019 What Have We Done for You Lately? – October 2019 | LeadingAge

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about RAD for PRAC and Rethinking Dementia: A Positive Approach.

Finally, check out our new podcast episode about Aldersgate in Charlotte, NC, which was recognized

as our October 2019 LeadingAge Catalyst. The organization turned a program designed to draw out

residents’ re�ections on life into a theater production called “Acting Our Age.”