As part of the unprecedented efforts taken by the Trump Administration, President Trump announced several new CMS initiatives designed to protect nursing home residents from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

“From the moment the threat of this virus materialized, the Trump Administration has placed a priority on protecting nursing home residents,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “Today’s multi-pronged intervention represents the latest efforts in fulfilling that unwavering commitment. As caseloads continue to increase in areas around the country, it has never been more important that nursing homes have what they need to maintain a sturdy defense against the virus. These measures will help them do exactly that.”

New Funding:

HHS will devote $5 billion of the Provider Relief Fund authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to Medicare-certified long term care facilities and state veterans’ homes (“nursing homes”), to build nursing home skills and enhance nursing homes’ response to COVID-19, including enhanced infection control. This funding could be used to address critical needs in nursing homes including hiring additional staff, implementing infection control “mentorship” programs with subject matter experts, increasing testing, and providing additional services, such as technology so residents can connect with their families if they are not able to visit. Nursing homes must participate in the Nursing Home COVID-19 Training (described below) to be qualified to receive this funding. This new funding is in addition to the $4.9 billion previously announced to offset revenue losses and assist nursing homes with additional costs related to responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency and the shipments of personal protective equipment provided to nursing homes by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Enhanced Testing:

Building on the initiative HHS announced last week, in which rapid point-of-care diagnostic testing devices will be distributed to nursing homes, and the new funding from the Provider Relief Fund, CMS will begin requiring, rather than recommending, that all nursing homes in states with a 5% positivity rate or greater test all nursing home staff each week. This new staff testing requirement will enhance efforts to keep the virus from entering and spreading through nursing homes by identifying asymptomatic carriers.

More than 15,000 testing devices will be deployed over the next few months to help support this mandate, with over 600 devices shipping this week. Funds from the Provider Relief Fund can also be used to pay for additional testing of visitors.

Additional Technical Assistance & Support:

The Trump administration recently deployed federal Task Force Strike Teams to provide onsite technical assistance and education to nursing homes experiencing outbreaks in an effort to help reduce transmission and the risk of COVID-19 spread among residents. The first deployments took place in 18 nursing homes in Illinois, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas between July 18 and July 20.  The Task Force Strike Teams are composed of clinicians and public health service officials from CMS, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.

The Task Force Strike Teams went into nursing homes based on data they reported to the CDC that indicated an increase in COVID-19 cases. The teams focused on the four key areas of support, including keeping COVID-19 out of facilities, detecting COVID-19 cases quickly, preventing virus transmission, and managing staff. The goal was to determine what immediate actions nursing homes needed to take to help reduce the spread and risk of COVID-19 among residents, and to better understand what federal, state, and local resources nursing homes need to ensure the health and safety of their residents. CMS and its partners plan to use what is learned on the ground to determine remote education and other critical needs to support nursing homes and mitigate future outbreaks.

In addition, CMS, in partnership with the CDC, is rolling out an online, self-paced, on-demand Nursing Home COVID-19 Training focused on infection control and best practices. The training being offered has 23 educational modules and a scenario-based learning modules that include materials on cohorting strategies and using telehealth in nursing homes to assist facilities as they continue to work to mitigate the virus spread in their facilities. This program supplements training already underway to better equip nursing homes to contain and stop the spread of COVID-19. The training is a requirement for nursing homes to receive the additional funding from the Provider Relief Fund Program.

The training will be available to all 15,400 nursing homes nationwide along with specialized technical assistance to nursing homes who have been found to have infection prevention deficiencies in their most recent CMS inspection and had recent COVID-19 cases based upon their data submissions to CDC. A certificate of completion is offered and recognition badges can be downloaded for nursing homes to display on their website.

Weekly Data on High Risk Nursing Homes:

Early on during this pandemic, CMS required nursing homes to inform residents, their families and representatives of COVID-19 cases in their nursing homes. Starting in May, CMS and CDC began collecting weekly data on each nursing home including their number of COVID-19 cases. Now that this data collection process has matured, the White House and CMS will release a list of nursing homes with an increase in cases that will be sent to states each week as part of the weekly Governor’s report to ensure states have the information needed to target their support to the highest risk nursing homes.

This announcement builds on the unprecedented and aggressive actions CMS has taken to address the impact of COVID-19 in nursing homes.

See the full text of this excerpted CMS Press Release (issued July 22), including a list of actions CMS took to address the impact of COVID-19 in nursing homes.

HHS issued an update on the reporting of CARES Act/Provider Relief Fund distributions.  The following is an excerpt from the guidance attached and available at www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/….

The purpose of this notice is to inform Provider Relief Fund (PRF) recipients that received one or more payments exceeding $10,000 in the aggregate from the PRF of the timing of future reporting requirements. Detailed instructions regarding these reports will be released by August 17, 2020.

These reporting instructions will provide directions on reporting obligations applicable to any provider that received a payment from the following CARES Act/PRF distributions.

General Distributions:

• Initial Medicare Distribution
• Additional Medicare Distribution
• Medicaid, Dental & CHIP Distribution

Targeted Distributions:

• High Impact Area Distribution
• Rural Distribution
• Skilled Nursing Facilities Distribution
• Indian Health Service Distribution
• Safety Net Hospital Distribution

Notice on Timing of Reports:

The reporting system will become available to recipients for reporting on October 1, 2020.

• All recipients must report within 45 days of the end of calendar year 2020 on their expenditures through the period ending December 31, 2020.
  Recipients who have expended funds in full prior to December 31, 2020 may submit a single final report at any time during the window that begins October 1, 2020, but no later than February 15, 2021.
• Recipients with funds unexpended after December 31, 2020, must submit a second and final report no later than July 31, 2021.
• Detailed PRF reporting instructions and a data collection template with the necessary data elements will be available through the HRSA website by August 17, 2020.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced an HHS Protect Dashboard displaying HHS Protect data.

At the beginning of the pandemic, it became clear that HHS needed a central way to make data collected by various operating divisions, including CDC, CMS, HRSA, and others, visible to first responders at federal, state, and local levels and the federal government needed to collect this data as fast as possible. To fulfill this need, HHS built HHS Protect, a secure data ecosystem powered by eight commercial technologies for sharing, parsing, housing, and accessing COVID-19 data and driven by four principles: transparency, sharing, privacy, and security. Through HHS Protect, key parties have access to hospital-specific data, like inpatient bed utilization, ICU bed utilization, percentage of inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and number of COVID-19 cases. Even beyond that, it also offers insight into the supply chains of large healthcare distributors. By integrating this data together into one system, we can help federal, state and local leaders make strategic decisions and maximize resources. View the public data dashboards here: https://protect-public.hhs.gov/.

Please check out this RFD-TV: “Market Day Report”  Live segment filmed on July 21, 2020.  It features White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director James Carroll discussing the new Rural Community Toolbox site.

The CDC’s rural COVID-19 page is now live!  In addition, the CDC released their provisional 2019 drug overdose death numbers for the country. Overall, there was a national increase of 4.8%. Click here to learn more.  Also, the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control posted a notice in the Federal Register to solicit input from several stakeholder groups on the management of chronic and acute pain. Through the notice, which closes August 21,2020, the CDC is looking for volunteers to participate in individual conversations and share their perspectives.

Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Bette Brand announced that USDA is seeking feedback to launch a new program to help create high-wage jobs in rural communities and strengthen regional economies. Click here to learn more.

Below please find more resources and information that may be of interest. Please share this information with your stakeholders.

• The Small Business Administration, Paycheck Protection Program has Reopened.
• Addiction Policy Forum’s released a Health Advisory about COVID-19 and a Survey: COVID-19 Affecting Access to Addiction Treatment and Key Services.
• The Weekly National Call on Coronavirus, Housing & Homelessness National Low Income Housing Coalition – Mondays, 2:30pm.
• The Rural Health Information Hub (RHI-HUB) released the Rural Community Paramedicine Toolkit, Created by RHIhub partner NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis, this new toolkit compiles emerging practices and resources to aid rural communities in building community paramedicine and mobile integrated health programs.
• Mid Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center  (MATRC)– Telehealth Resources for COVID-19 Toolkit. MATRC compiled the most frequently asked questions and requested resources into a COVID-19 Toolkit.  They update this Toolkit every day, so bookmark this page and check back regularly!
• 2021 Rx Summit Call for Presentations: The Call for Presentations is open for the 2021 Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit, which will be held April 5-8 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Presentation proposals can be submitted for a breakout session (75-minute education session), the poster hall, or both. There is a limit of 3 presentation proposals per submitter. Please use this link to submit a presentation proposal: https://www.rx-summit.com/agenda. Deadline to submit a proposal is August 28, 2020.
• CMS COVID-19 Stakeholder Engagement Calls – CMS hosts varied recurring stakeholder engagement sessions to share information related to the agency’s response to COVID-19. These sessions are open to members of the healthcare community and are intended to provide updates, share best practices among peers, and offer attendees an opportunity to ask questions of CMS and other subject matter experts. Next call: Tuesday, July 28th at 5:00 – 6:00 PM Eastern Toll Free Attendee Dial In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 1492795  Audio Webcast link  to register and Click here to access previous calls recordings and transcripts,

Resources

• School-Based Healthcare Solutions Network: Student Support Recovery Grant – The SBHSN Student Support Recovery Grant is accepting applications from local education agencies (LEAs), charter school management companies, public schools, charter schools, and private schools throughout the U.S. to help them implement telehealth mental health program services for children impacted by short and long-term school closures. Grants will range up to $250,000. Applications will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis until funding is no longer available. Click here for more information.
• DOL Employment and Training Administration Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) Technical Assistance Grant Program. This program aims to provide technical assistance (TA) to employers and labor unions to encourage employment of women in both apprenticeable occupations and nontraditional occupations (A/NTO). Deadline for applications: August 3, 2020.
• The 2020 TD Ready Challenge is focused on supporting innovative solutions that address the impacts of the pandemic. Applications must work to explicitly address inequities exacerbated by the pandemic, as well as one or more of the four interconnected drivers of change of the TD Ready Commitment: Financial Security, Vibrant Planet, Connected Communities, and Better Health. Application Deadline: August 13, 2020.
• Request for Applications: Court Pandemic Response and Recovery – Through this solicitation, State Justice Institute (SJI) is seeking to fund projects that assist state courts in their response to, and recovery from, COVID-19, with a look towards the future of court operations. SJI seeks to support projects that look to the future of judicial service delivery by identifying and replicating innovations and alternate means of conducting court business because of the pandemic. Deadline for applications: August 14, 2020.
•  Department of Housing and Urban Development – Veterans Housing Rehabilitation and Modification Pilot Program provides support to rehabilitate and modify the primary residence of veterans who are low-income and have disabilities. Grants may also be used to provide grantees’ affiliates with technical, administrative, and training support in connection with modification and rehabilitation services. Application Deadline: August 18, 2020.
• DOT Federal Highway Administration  Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund (TTPSF). TTPSF grants are available to federally recognized Indian tribes through a competitive, discretionary program. Awarded annually, projects are chosen whose outcomes will address the prevention and reduction of death or serious injuries in transportation related incidents, such as motor vehicle crashes. Deadline for applications: August 20, 2020.
• DOT Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the availability of approximately $5 million in funding provided by the Public Transportation on Indian Reservations Program (Tribal Transit Program (TTP)). This is a national solicitation for project proposals and includes the selection criteria and program eligibility information for Fiscal Year 2020 projects. The primary purpose of these competitively selected grants is to support planning, capital, and, in limited circumstances, operating assistance for tribal public transit services. Deadline for applications: August 22, 2020.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement announced approximately $15 million in available funding to help socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers own and operate successful farms. Funding is made through the USDA’s Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program (also known as the 2501 Program). The program is administered by the USDA Office of Partnerships & Public Engagement (OPPE). Deadline for applications: August 26, 2020. See the request for applications for full details.
•  USDA: Coronavirus Food Assistance Program – The Coronavirus Food Assistance Program provides direct relief to agricultural producers, including farmers and ranchers, who have faced price declines and additional marketing costs due to COVID-19. Application Deadline: August 28, 2020.
• HHS Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) offers the opportunity to apply for funding under the Women’s Preventive Services Initiative (WPSI). WPSI’s purpose is to improve women’s health across the lifespan. Application Deadline: October 5, 2020.
• HHS Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) offers the opportunity to apply for funding under the Healthy Tomorrows Partnership for Children Program (HTPCP). The purpose of this program is to support innovative, community-based initiatives to improve the health status of infants, children, adolescents, and families in rural and other underserved communities by increasing their access to preventive care and services. Application Deadline: October 6, 2020.
• HIGH SPEED BROADBAND/RURAL OPPORTUNITY FUND-The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designed the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to bring high speed fixed broadband service to rural homes and small businesses that lack access.  The first phase of the FCC reverse auction will target over six million homes and businesses in census blocks that are entirely underserved by voice and broadband with download speeds of at least 25 Mbps.  Application Deadline: October 22, 2020.
• The Reimagining Pathways to Employment in the U.S. Challenge, powered by MIT Solve, the Morgridge Family Foundation, and New Profit, seeks the most promising solutions that accelerate pathways to current and future employment across the United States. Solutions that focus on non-coastal states, U.S. interior regions, and/or racial justice are encouraged. Nonprofit, for-profit, and hybrid organizations, as well as individuals, are eligible to apply. Selected finalists will pitch before the Challenge judges, who will determine which solutions are the most promising. At least five teams will be selected to receive a minimum of $100,000 in grant funding and additional support. Application deadline: November 9, 2020.

State Specific

• Geographic Scope: Alaska -The State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services has partnered with The Alaska Community Foundation to establish the Coronavirus Nonprofit Relief Fund to support nonprofit organizations in Alaska adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. A variety of Alaska nonprofits are eligible to apply for funding from the Fund, including public charities, faith-based organizations providing social services to the broader community, veteran’s groups, tribal organizations, and local governments. Application Deadline: July 29, August 26, and October 14, 2020.
•  Geographic Scope: Texas –  St. David’s Foundation has launched a $10 million COVID-19 Recovery Fund to support nonprofit organizations during this challenging and uncertain time. The Fund will provide grants supporting both immediate and intermediate needs of nonprofit organizations working on the front lines to provide emergency assistance to those impacted by COVID-19 in Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties in Texas. Priority populations include older adults at risk of social isolation, women, children, and vulnerable populations, with special attention given for rural neighbors. Furthermore, the Fund will prioritize work that is related to factors that directly impact health and well-being including telehealth, mental health, and youth serving organizations. Application Deadline: August 13 and October 15, 2020.
• Geographic Scope: Virginia – The Charlottesville Area Community Foundation’s Community Recovery and Catalyst Grants support community organizations in response to COVID-19, especially as they support vulnerable communities and communities who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic as well as organizations who are working to address systemic racism in the region. Grants of up to $50,000 are provided. Application Deadline: August 14, 2020.
• Geographic Scope: Connecticut – Main Street Community Foundation: COVID-19 Response Fund. The COVID-19 Response Fund provides operating support grants to nonprofit organizations affected by COVID-19. The nonprofit organization must have a main office in an eligible community and be serving a significant population in those communities. Grants are one-time and may range from $2,500 -$10,000. Application Deadline: August 14, 2020.

The LEAF Project cultivates youth leaders from diverse backgrounds through meaningful work in the food system.  Check out their impressive new COVID-19 farming strategies