April 14, 2020
We never seem to get caught up enough on Monday to get the news out – so it’s Tuesday! And today we have several bits of important news:
- First, there are changes to the Budget which have been proposed by the Governor – here are a few that are important to us. We will become very familiar with the term “unallot!” Some of the recommendations are to capitalize on the opportunities presented during the COVD19 pandemic (such as Amendment 80), some are to support services which are unduly stressed because of COVID19 (such as Amendment 77), some are to ease the way for agencies for whom the pandemic and the restrictions are placing an extra burden (such as Amendment 82) and others are to unallot funds budgeted for “new” spending until the revenue picture is clearer (such as Amendment 81). Except that the funds were not entirely removed (simply “unalloted”) for adult dental, DD Waiver Refresh, the rate setting analysis, and rates for nursing and psychiatric treatment, there is not much good news in this package.
- Second, a few items have been sent forward to CMS from the 1135 Waiver, and the Appendix K – none that will provide any relief to DD Waiver Providers.
- Third, the Governor has created a new task force to look at issues and support needed for long term care facilities; DBHDS has been added to the membership so there will at least be a voice in the room. We will be following up on their progress. And,
- Last, we were fairly astounded when reviewing the agenda for the two hour webinar planned in lieu of the Provider Roundtable and Support Coordinator meetings in April. With only a few exceptions, the topics suggest that we are doing business as usual – wrapping up DOJ by July 2021 (meaning in compliance by the end of June 2020), moving ahead with validations for the HCBS transition, reviewing QMR audits, etc. We will have more on the HCBS transition plans during the call on Friday.