Aug. 30th COVID-19 Update
New updates pertaining to the COVID-19 emergency continue to be announced by both the state and federal government on a regular basis. The latest developments for providers of long-term/post-acute care (LTPAC) and senior services are outlined below.
As a reminder, LeadingAge NY continues to convene weekly webinars on Mondays at 11 a.m. to address emerging questions on COVID-19. A recording of our most recent webinar, held on Aug. 29th, is available here, and a list of the items shared by LeadingAge NY staff in the webinar chat can be accessed here. If you have questions for next week’s update, which will be held on Tues., Sept. 6th at 11 a.m. due to Labor Day, or would like the access information, please contact Jeff Diamond.
Cross-Sector Updates
Vaccination Update
Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are seeking approval of their updated booster vaccines that target the Omicron BA.4 and 5 variants as well as the original COVID-19 strain. The White House has announced that this updated booster will be available after Labor Day and will help address a potential winter surge of COVID-19. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to announce approval of the targeted booster this week. At this time, there are no further details on this initiative. If LeadingAge NY hears of state or federal initiatives to encourage or require resident or staff booster vaccination, we will be sure to communicate that to members.
Executive Orders Declaring Disasters Regarding Staffing Shortages and Monkeypox Extended
On Aug. 28th, Governor Hochul extended Executive Order (EO) 4, which established a statewide disaster emergency due to health care staffing shortages. EO 4.12 extends EO 4 to Sept. 27th, but includes a few suspension provisions to be terminated. The Governor also, on Aug. 28th, extended EO 20, which established a statewide disaster emergency due to the ongoing spread of monkeypox. EO 20.1 extends EO 20 to Sept. 28th and adds provisions requiring insurance coverage for monkeypox vaccination, testing, diagnosis, and more. Click here for more information.
Nursing Home Updates
CMS Provides Guidance on End of CNA Certification Waiver and TNA to CNA Transition
On Aug. 29th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued revisions to memorandum QSO-22-15-NH & NLTC & LSC that had provided guidance on the end of the 1135 waivers. The revised QSO specifically addresses the waiver of certified nurse aide (CNA) certification. Temporary nurse aides (TNAs) hired during the COVID-19 pandemic would have had to become CNAs by Oct. 6, 2022, when the waiver was due to expire.
In many states, including New York State, nursing homes have experienced delays in testing or a lack of available testing sites and have been unable to have TNAs become certified. In view of these problems, CMS is allowing both individual facility waivers as well as state/county waivers under certain circumstances and requiring documentation of efforts to obtain certification for nurse aides. Click here for more information.
Were You Impacted by the NHSN Outage?
Nursing homes that submit their weekly COVID-19 data to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) on the weekend may have been unable to do so this past weekend due to intermittent NHSN outages for maintenance. No advance notice had been provided. While civil monetary penalties (CMPs) are no longer imposed for a single missed week of non-reporting (and Five-Star ratings are not impacted), the F884 citations and warnings are still issued. LeadingAge National has been in touch with CMS regarding this issue and is requesting that no citations be issued for failure to report for the week that ended on Sun., Aug. 28th. If your home was unable to report due to the outage and does receive a citation, please let us know.
DOH to Add Test Kit Question to Monthly HERDS Survey
The Department of Health (DOH) is seeking to collect information once a month through the Health Emergency Response Data System (HERDS) survey to determine if providers are in need of COVID-19 point-of-care tests for staff testing or over-the-counter test kits to support visitor testing. The goal is to better meet the testing needs of nursing homes and to accurately distribute the quantities needed. If implemented as proposed, the first question will ask whether a home has a need for point-of-care antigen tests to support screening of staff who are not up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations. Those answering yes will be asked to enter the count of staff who are not up to date. The second question will ask about the need for over-the-counter tests to support visitor testing. Those answering yes will be asked to enter the average number of daily visitors to the facility. DOH is targeting the Sept. 6th monthly HERDS survey as a start date.