Washington Update from AHCA/NCAL

OHCA’s national affiliate, the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) shared the following update with members last week.

The Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) has been in place for several months now, and we continue to evaluate its implementation. We will begin to see public reports on earnings from larger companies starting this month that will give us a better idea of whether PDPM is “budget neutral” for the federal government as set forth by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Whether PDPM is budget neutral could impact the FY 2021 proposed payment rule from CMS in May. We will keep a close watch on this and continue to provide important updates. We implemented a paid digital media campaign, highlighted later in this email, aimed directly at Washington, D.C. policymakers to help protect this funding and support your efforts to deliver quality care.

There are many AHCA staff members – too many to name – that worked tirelessly over the past year and a half to ensure you all were prepared for PDPM. They developed an amazing and thoroughly educational PDPM Academy in which more than 10,000 members participated. Thanks to each of you who attended and to the staff for their hard work to ensure the sector was prepared for this monumental change. This year, I’m excited to announce that the Association will offer the AHCA PDPM Academy 2020 . This online subscription is available to AHCA SNF provider members and in addition to live bi-monthly PDPM Open Discussion Forums, offers in-depth education through six pre-recorded webinars starting in March. Continuing education (CE) credits are available, and the CE webinars are accompanied by AHCA-developed guidance, tool kits, and numerous other resources. I encourage you to register today.

Medicaid is an issue we deal with often on Capitol Hill and remains an Association goal to protect this year. While we do not expect much Congressional action on Medicaid, it became clear toward the end of 2019 that our work on this priority issue was going to be with CMS after the agency proposed the Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation (MFAR). AHCA/NCAL, along with thousands of other organizations and individuals, submitted a comment letter to CMS late last month on the devastating impacts of this proposed rule. The Association is working closely with state affiliates and is also conducting outreach to provider, beneficiary and state groups. Additionally, there is a strong political and lobbying strategy in place. The CMS comment period recently closed, and we will keep you updated as we learn more about where the agency is headed with MFAR.