Member Resources

Member Update: Informal Dispute Resolution Meeting

Member Update: Governor Healey Announces Preliminary Agreement to Keep Five of Seven Steward Hospitals Open; WellCare Medicare Advantage Provider Will Exit Massachusetts in 2025

Join AHCA/NCAL in Orlando, FL from October 6-9 for Delivering Solutions 24! The annual AHCA/NCAL Convention & Expo is the premier gathering of long term and post-acute care, and assisted living providers, vendors, and affiliates.

On July 30, 2024, EOEA held a virtual meeting to update stakeholders on the progress of transitioning the Commonwealth from the MOLST to the POLST.

The revised Nursing Home Five-Star Quality Rating System: Technical Users’ Guide is now available. The revised guide includes changes implemented in July 2024 made to the Staffing Domain star calculations, PDPM Nursing Case-Mix Indexes by Nursing CMG, Ranges for Point Values for Staffing Measures and cut-points for the hospitalization and ED visit quality measures.

The revised Appendix PP State Operations Manual Appendix PP - Guidance to Surveyors for Long Term Care Facilities is now available. The manual revision includes updates to the requirements and interpretive guidance for F 838 Facility Assessment per the Minimum Staffing Standards for Long-Term Care Facilities and Medicaid Institutional Payment Transparency Reporting Final Rule.

The final Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) User’s Manual version (v)1.19.1 is now available in the Downloads section on CMS’ MDS 3.0 RAI Manual webpage. It will be effective beginning October 01, 2024.

At yesterday’s Department of Public Health meeting the Public Health Council (PHC) responded to DPH data on the 2023-2024 Healthcare Personnel COVID-19 and Influenza Vaccination in Health Care Facilities. Nursing home vaccination rates lagged other health care providers in the States, which prompted concern from several PHC members arguing that the rates are unjustifiable and disturbing for health care providers, signaling additional action is possible.

On Monday, August 12, residents from MSCA member facilities, Alliance Health at Marina Bay, and Alliance Health at Maples were treated to a dream flight aboard an open-air, two-seater World War II plane! Six veterans had the opportunity to relive their flying days – it was an exciting and emotional experience for everyone involved.

Member Update: Medicare Provider Enrollment Site Visit Contractor Activity

Member Update: Test Kits for COVID-19 Outbreaks; 2023-2024 Nursing Home Health Care Personnel Vaccination Rates Lag Compared to other Health Care Entities; CMS Publishes 2025 Rule to Propose Expanded Nursing Home Reporting in NHSN

Member Update: COVID-19 Vaccine Availability; REMINDER: MassHealth Announces Important Change in LTC Eligibility Verification Timelines – Will Return to 30 Days Beginning September 2024

We look forward to seeing you at our November 14th Annual Meeting & Trade Show, where you will have opportunities to participate in educational sessions, network with peers, engage with exhibitors to learn about the latest products and services, and earn CEUs. MSCA is thrilled to host this year’s event at the elegantly restored, historic Wellsworth Hotel in Southbridge, MA!

Mass Senior Care is looking forward to celebrating National Assisted Living Week, happening Sunday, September 8, through Saturday, September 14, 2024!

Mass Senior Care will once again be offering the AHCA/NCAL Bronze Quality Award workshop to help members better understand how to complete the application from beginning to end with coaching support along the way from expert trainers. Register for the workshop here.

The AHCA/NCAL Quality Awards Intent to Apply and Portal will be opening soon. To support MSCA facility members on the path to success, AHCA/NCAL has prepared a suite of new and enhanced educational materials across all award levels.

In response to Mass Senior Care’s request to return to the prior 30-day verification process for LTC applications, MassHealth announced it will update its policy and revert to the prior 30-day timeframe to be effective in late September 2024.

Signature Healthcare announced that Brockton Hospital will begin re-opening its inpatient care services on Tuesday, August 13th, 18 months after a catastrophic electrical fire closed operations.

The Foundation is accepting applications through tomorrow, Friday, August 9th. Please click here to review the eligibility requirements and required application materials.

Mass Senior Care will once again be offering AHCA/NCAL Quality Award workshops to help members better understand how to complete the application from beginning to end with coaching support along the way from expert trainers. If you are considering applying for one of the three Quality Awards, we highly recommend that you register for a workshop.

Governor Healey signed into law H.4890, ‘An Act Relative to Salary Range Transparency’, which requires employers with more than 25 employees to disclose salary ranges in job postings.

Member Update: Uptick in COVID-19 Cases and MWRA COVID-19 Wastewater Tracking

As a reminder, nursing facilities must update their Facility Assessment (F838) to meet the revised regulations as part of the federal staffing mandate by August 8, 2024.

On July 31, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule updating Medicare payment policies and rates for skilled nursing facilities under the Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System (SNF PPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2025.

Yesterday, the Legislature adjourned formal session leaving unresolved a number of critical initiatives including the over $3 billion Omnibus Economic Development bill, which contained a $50 million Nursing Facility Capital Investment Fund in the House version (H.4804).

The Foundation is still accepting applications for its 2024 awards. Please note that the application and all required components must be submitted online at the same time and received by Massachusetts Senior Care Foundation no later than 4:00 pm today, Friday, August 2, 2024.

Earlier this week, Governor Healey signed into law the FY 2025 state budget, totaling $57.8 billion spending, which includes $40 million over the current FY 2024 Medicaid nursing facility budget appropriation to cover resident care and workforce costs.

Member Update: Boston Globe Editorial on LTC Reform Bill; CMS Leadership National Call – August 1

Member Update: Governor Healey Signs Into Law FY 2025 Budget; Long Term Care Reform Bill Conference Committee Appointed

The July 26, 2024 edition of Stat News includes an opinion piece on the new CMS federal nursing facility minimum standards, authored by two George Washington University School of Nursing Professors, "Without Federal Oversight, Nursing Homes Will Profit Ahead of Care”.

CMS has posted the recording and materials from the Overview of the Early Look Performance Score Report for the Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing (SNF VBP) Program webinar.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is providing notifications to facilities that were determined to be out of compliance with Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program (SNF QRP) requirements for CY 2023, which will affect their FY 2025 Annual Payment Update (APU).

Last week, the Centers for Disease Prevention & Control (CDC) released Updated Recommendations for COVID-19, flu, and RSV vaccines for 2024-2025.

The DPH and Mass Senior Care continue to encourage nursing facilities to vaccinate residents and staff with the most up to date COVID-19 vaccine.

Over the past 4 weeks, Massachusetts nursing facilities have seen an uptick in resident COVID-19 cases per CDC NHSN data. Nursing facilities are reminded to remain diligent in their infection control practices to limit the spread of COVID-19 to residents and staff.

Late yesterday afternoon, the Senate adopted its version of the Long Term Care Reform Bill, SB2889, An Act Relative to Long Term Care and Assisted Living and in doing so rejected the three MSCA-supported amendments.

Steward Health Care today announced plans to close Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer over the next month. According to the Steward announcement, these two hospitals received no qualified bids during the bankruptcy sales process.

Member Update: Understand the Regulatory Requirements Effective August 8 for Compliant Nursing Facility Assessments; US Department of State Announces Visa Retrogression Date of December 1, 2021; REMINDER: 2024 DCC-Q Final Filing Reporting is Due on July 31st

Member Update: Senate Adopts Long Term Care Reform Bill

Member Update: Senate Ways and Means Committee Issues Redrafted Long Term Care Reform Bill; State Imposes Receiver On Three Long-Term Care Centers

Member Update: Informal Dispute Resolution Meeting; Legislative Conference Committee Reaches Agreement on Workplace Equity Bill; EOHHS Issues Administrative Bulletin 20-24: NF User Fee Form Resubmission Deadline

Member Update: IT Outage – Hospital Admissions; Legislature To Enact and Send to Governor Healey FY 2025 Budget Today

The Massachusetts Department of Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) has released program updates, click the link below to read about each update! For additional information, please visit the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave.

Join the Massachusetts eHealth Institute (MeHI) and the MassCyberCenter on August 8th at 10 am for the monthly health care provider cybersecurity call. Representatives of the Commonwealth Fusion Center will provide updates on recent cyber threats and trends. This call will include a presentation on ransomware in health care.

The Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Provider Preview Reports have been updated and are now available. These reports contain provider performance scores for quality measures, which will be published on Care Compare and Provider Data Catalog (PDC) during the October 2024 refresh.