Policy Corner: January 31, 2020

Senators Release Substitute for Aging Bill

Senators have reached a compromise on the Dignity in Aging Act to reauthorize the Older Americans Act, which contains provisions relating to traumatic brain injury (TBI). The substitute bill language was released this week and will be referred to as the Supporting Older Americans Act of 2020, but will retain the bill number from the House bill, H.R. 4334. The plan is to take the bill directly to Senate floor consideration and bypass Senate committee activity. It will then go back to the House of Representatives for final approval.

Provisions pertain to TBI screening, coordination of treatment, and other services for fall-related injuries, along with health promotion and awareness of TBI. The Older Americans Act (OAA), first enacted in 1965, funds services such as meals, job training, senior center, health promotion, benefits enrollment, caregiver support/respite, and transportation.

Social Security Solicits Comments on New Disability Rules

Today is the final day for comments on the new rules proposed by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The new rules could change how often people with disabilities have to prove they need benefits. Currently, the SSA schedules periodic reviews, known as “continuing disability reviews” (CDR), to determine if a claimant is still medically eligible for payments based on disability. SSA is proposing changes to current rules on when and how often CDRs are conducted. The changes include a new medical diary category, the Medical Improvement Likely category, to review approximately every two years. SSA says that for many who receive treatment, their severity of impairment and its effects decrease. Click here for more information.

Senators Introduce Bill for Medicaid HCBS while Person is in the Hospital

Similar to the Isaiah Baker and Margie Harris-Austin Act, H.R. 5443, introduced earlier in the month, Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), have introduced the Ensuring Access to Direct Support Professionals Act, S. 3220, which would extend reimbursement of Direct Support Professionals (DSP) services while a person receiving home and community-based services (HCBS) is in the hospital. This addresses a longstanding challenge in the 1915(c) HCBS waiver program that prevents individuals with disabilities and seniors who go to the hospital from bringing with them the DSPs who know them best to provide them with the support they rely on. The legislation brings 1915(c) in line with other HCBS authorities by allowing payment for DSPs to provide personal assistance and other services when the individual they support has a short-term stay in an acute care hospital.

CMS Releases Proposal to Encourage States to Block Grant Medicaid

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released information and publicly announced a new opportunity under Section 1115 demonstration authority for states to provide coverage for certain adults not eligible under the state’s Medicaid state plan while affording greater flexibility to design a program with increased accountability for results, known as the Healthy Adult Opportunity. This opportunity is offered in exchange for the state capping the Medicaid expenditures, paving the way for block grants. States allowed to shift to the block grant approach would have their federal Medicaid funding capped even during recessions and public health emergencies.

NIH Names BRAIN Initiative Director

The National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., officially selected John J. Ngai, Ph.D., Coates Family professor of Neuroscience and Director of the QB3 Functional Genomics Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, as director of the NIH BRAIN Initiative. The BRAIN Initiative director is responsible for advancing the scientific vision, setting research priorities, and ensuring the highest standards for science conducted in the initiative.

Dr. Ngai comes to this position to build on the outstanding successes of the BRAIN Initiative in the last several years. He plans to keep up the forward momentum of neuroscience research by using emerging technologies to better understand the nervous system and one day translate these into clinical practice for the many people suffering from neurological and psychiatric disorders.

ACL Requests Information from Organizations and Caregivers

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) is requesting information from individuals and organizations to assist the RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council in developing goals, objectives, and recommendations for an initial report to Congress and national family caregiving strategy, which are required by the RAISE Family Caregivers Act of 2017. The input will also help the council plan public listening sessions. The council wants to hear about recommended actions and best practices that can expand or improve existing support for caregivers. Comments or suggestions are due by Feb. 7, 11:59 p.m. (EST). You may submit your thoughts here.