During a recent webinar with HCAOA, Bobbie Warner RN, BSN, Director of Education with Community Health Accreditation Partner (CHAP), outlined the top 10 deficiencies for home care agencies under current private duty standards. Click here to learn more. 

If you’ve not already done so, please take a few minutes to review and update your organization’s profile on the NEW HCAOA website. 

​News of two possible vaccines for COVID-19 have given Americans hope at a time when it is needed most as  COVID-19 cases continue to rise. This promising news has also emphasized the need to make certain that home care workers are included in the first group to receive the vaccine. 

​In a year of turbulence on many fronts, HCAOA invites you and your staff to participate in an important conversation about racial equity and inclusion in the home care setting on Thursday, December 10 at 2:00 EST/11:00 PST. 

HCAOA uses Members Matter Most as a defining principle in every action the association undertakes throughout the year. Membership is never taken for granted, and growing our membership numbers continues to be a priority – particularly as we strengthen our advocacy efforts in Washington and state capitals across the country to ensure home care’s place in our health care system.  

​Arizona voters adopted Proposition 207, which legalizes the possession and use of marijuana by adults age 21 and over for recreational or non-medicinal use. The initiative passed with roughly a 20% margin. 

The CMS Targeted COVID-19 Training for Frontline Nursing Home Staff & Management is available now, with five specific modules designed for frontline clinical staff and 10 designed for nursing home management. The training is available for free on the CMS Quality, Safety & Education Portal. 

​​As we approach the start of the holiday season with Thanksgiving next week, HCAOA is offering support and resources for members to demonstrate our gratitude for your strong commitment to providing care to thousands of Americans during the pandemic.

​Florida voters approved Amendment 2, which will amend the state constitution to gradually increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by the year 2026. Florida joins California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York to become the eighth state in the country to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next several years. 

Although the 2020 presidential election is behind us, razor-thin and contested elections for the presidency and Congress remain, potentially drawing out the uncertainty through the new year. Regardless of the outcomes, the challenge for the new administration will be how to accomplish a potentially broad workplace regulatory agenda while seeking to stimulate business efforts to recover from the pandemic-induced recession.

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, HCAOA assembled a Medical Advisory Committee to provide guidance specific to home care agencies about best practices and protocols for providing care safely. The Committee continues to stay on top of the latest CDC guidance to provide up-to-the-minute guidance, such as how often caregivers should be tested for COVID?

This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2020 Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Managed Care final rule, which seeks to improve federal oversight and state flexibility while maintaining beneficiary protections and providing high quality of care for the 55 million beneficiaries who are enrolled in Medicaid managed care plans. This also includes the 79% of CHIP children in 32 states who enrolled in CHIP managed care plans.

In a year of turbulence on many fronts, HCAOA invites you and your staff to participate in an important conversation about racial equity and inclusion in the home care setting on Thursday, December 10 at 2:00 EST/11:00 PST. We are teaming up with national leader Jacqueline Boyd, BA, BS, CGCM, to support agency owners and leadership in defining systemic racism and understanding how caregivers and staff are impacted in this moment by the events of 2020, including COVID-19 health disparities, George Floyd protests and the election). Our time together will provide practical strategies for inclusion within your organizations and ideas for how to support caregivers, clients, and staff in the year ahead. 

The Connecticut Department of Social Services announced recently that it is increasing rates by 2.3% for Medicaid waiver service providers. The increase, while not as much as HCAOA Connecticut sought, is nonetheless important to Medicaid home care providers. HCAOA Connecticut advocated vigorously for an increase in Medicaid reimbursement rates for providers by forming a coalition of organizations supporting an increase, drafting a letter to the Governor in support and lobbying state officials. ​