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OLTL

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The next Managed Long-Term Services and Supports Subcommittee (MLTSS) meeting is scheduled for February 2, 2022, from 10:00 am–1:00 pm.

To participate in the meeting via webinar, please register by visiting here. The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) encourages those participating by webinar to register early. Registrants will then receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Dial-In Number:
1 (914) 614-3221
Access Code: 300-175-489

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Message from the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL): 

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services is offering a webinar on the topic of the Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work Benefits Counseling, which provides individuals, their families, friends, and caregivers information relative to their benefits/services and competitive integrated employment. This overview will be presented by Ms. Joy Smith, AHEDD Work Incentive Planning and Assistance, Certified Work Incentive Coordinator, Regional Manager.

Office of Long-Term Living Service Coordinators, Direct Service Providers, CHC-MCO staff, and any individuals that work on employment are strongly encouraged to participate in this webinar on an overview of Benefits Counseling as it relates to the participants you serve.

The Overview of Benefits Counseling webinar is as follows:
April 21, 2022 from 10:00 am–11:00 am

Please register to attend this event. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

If you have questions, please contact Edward M. Butler via email or call 717-214-3718.

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Image by photosforyou from Pixabay

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) is offering a webinar on the topic of the PA Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Savings Program on January 28, 2022, from 1:00 pm–2:00 pm. A PA ABLE account gives individuals with qualifying disabilities (eligible individuals) and their families and friends a tax-free way to save for disability-related expenses while maintaining government benefits. Federal and state law authorized the creation of PA ABLE accounts. The presentation will be given by a representative of the PA Treasury Department.

OLTL Service Coordinators, Direct Service Providers, CHC-MCO staff, and any individuals that work with employment are strongly encouraged to participate in this webinar, which will help you understand the PA ABLE Program and how it can benefit the OLTL participants you serve.

Please register for this event. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Questions about the webinar should be directed to Edward M. Butler, OLTL, via email or at 717-214-3718.

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has issued Bulletin 59-21-03, which pertains to the Home and Community-Based Settings (HCBS) Heightened Scrutiny process. Also included are the following bulletin attachments:

  • Attachment A: Final Rule Heightened Scrutiny checklist for Day Settings
  • Attachment B: Final Rule Heightened Scrutiny checklist for Employment Skills Development Settings
  • Attachment C: Final Rule Heightened scrutiny checklist for Residential Settings

OLTL is currently working to develop a training for providers on this topic and will host training sessions sometime in early 2022. Questions about the bulletin and/or the attachments should be sent via email. The bulletin is effective December 29, 2021.

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has outlined its plan to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to strengthen the workforce and assist Adult Day Services (ADS) providers. This plan is in response to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), which provides a temporary 10 percent increase to the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for certain Medicaid expenditures for home and community-based services (HCBS). The funding must be used to enhance, expand, or strengthen HCBS.

The OLTL ARPA plan directs $46.5 million to Personal Assistance Service (PAS), Community Integration (CI), and Residential Habilitation (Res Hab) providers to assist with recruitment and retention of direct care workers. The plan directs an additional $13 million to ADS providers to strengthen ADS. To qualify for these payments, providers must have been in operation as of November 1, 2021.

OLTL sent letters to providers with details about the payments, including information about the approved use of and reporting on these funds. For reference, samples of the letters, a list of qualifying entities and payment amounts, and a blank copy of the Provider Attestation Form are available on the DHS Long-Term Care Providers page under the heading “American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funding.”

To receive a Strengthening the Workforce or Adult Day Services payment, providers must complete the OLTL Provider Attestation form and return via email or fax it to the OLTL Bureau of Finance at (717) 787-2145.  Providers who return completed forms by January 7, 2022, will receive payment in February 2022.

Strengthening the Workforce Payments

  • The total available for a one-time payment to PAS, Res Hab, and CI providers is $46,500,000. Of that, $44 million is allocated to PAS and CI, and $2.5 million is allocated to Res Hab. Amounts allocated to providers in each category were based on fee-for-service claims and managed care encounters for services provided between July 1, 2020, and March 30, 2021.
  • To calculate each PAS and CI provider’s Strengthening the Workforce payment, OLTL first divided the $44 million allocation by the total number of fee-for-service and managed care PAS and CI units billed between July 1, 2020, and March 30, 2021, to determine a per unit amount. Each provider’s payment was then calculated by multiplying the per unit amount by the provider’s number of fee-for-service and managed care PAS and CI units billed during the same period.
  • To calculate each Res Hab provider’s Strengthening the Workforce payment, OLTL first divided the $2.5 million allocation by the total number of fee-for-service and managed care Res Hab units billed between July 1, 2020, and March 30, 2021, to determine a per unit amount. Each provider’s payment was then calculated by multiplying the per unit amount by the provider’s number of fee-for-service and managed care Res Hab units billed during the same period.

Strengthening ADS Payments

  • The total funds available for a one-time payment to ADS providers is $13 million. Amounts allocated to ADS providers were based on fee-for-service claims and managed care encounters for services provided between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2019.
  • To calculate each ADS provider’s Strengthening Adult Day Services payment, OLTL first divided the $13 million allocation by the total number of fee-for-service and managed care ADS units billed between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2019, to determine a per unit amount. Each provider’s payment was then calculated by multiplying the per unit amount by the provider’s number of fee-for-service and managed care ADS units billed during the same period.

Acceptable Uses of ARPA Funding

ARPA funding must be used for things such as sign on bonuses, retention payments, COVID-19 related leave benefits and paid time off, vaccination incentives, or the purchase of personal protective equipment and testing supplies. Additionally, ADS providers can use the funding for retrofitting adult day centers, expenses to re-open the centers, and expenses to develop alternative models to provide ADS.

Questions about this information should be directed to the OLTL Provider Helpline at 800-932-0939.

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved the Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL) Community HealthChoices (CHC) Waiver amendment. The amendment is effective January 1, 2022.

The changes in the approved amendment include:

  • Revised service definitions, service limitations, and/or provider qualifications for the following CHC waiver services:
    • Adult Daily Living;
    • Home Adaptations;
    • Participant-Directed Community Supports;
    • Personal Assistance Services;
    • Personal Emergency Response System (PERS);
    • Specialized Medical Equipment and Supplies; and
    • Vehicle Modifications.
  • Revised waiver performance measures.
  • Revised number of unduplicated recipients for Waiver Years 3–5 and revised corresponding cost neutrality estimates.
  • Revised Service Coordinator selection or assignment time frame from 14 days to 7 days to be consistent with the CHC Agreement.

Questions about the 2022 CHC amendment can be submitted electronically.

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has updated the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Medical Assistance (MA) Fee Schedule. The updates reflect the fee schedule rates for Personal Assistance Services (PAS) procedure codes W1793, W1793 TT, W1792, and W1792 TU in the referenced Pennsylvania Bulletin below.

The updated OLTL HCBS MA Fee Schedule (effective January 1, 2022) may be found here. The new rates for the OBRA Waiver and Act 150 Program were announced in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on November 6, 2021, in the Volume 51, Number 45 issue and can be found here.

Questions related to this update should be directed to the OLTL Provider Inquiry Line at 800-932-0939, option 2, Monday–Friday between 9:00 am–12:00 pm and 1:00 pm–4:00 pm.

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has issued additional guidance on the Enterprise Incident Management (EIM) Enhancements.

As stated in the communication sent on December 10, 2021, Critical Incident Report Extensions changes were implemented in the EIM system on December 11, 2021. With these changes, once the maximum number of allowed extensions is reached, providers and service coordinators (SC) will need to contact OLTL if additional extensions are needed.

The December 10, 2021, communication indicated that OLTL had drafted a form to use in the near future, and once approved, you would be notified. The OLTL EIM Critical Incident Report Extension Request form has been approved and is here for your use.

When requesting incident report extensions, please follow these instructions:

  • Request forms must be submitted to OLTL at least 5 business days prior to incident report due date, via email.
  • Reasons for prior extensions must be clearly documented in the incident report.
  • The reason for an extension request must be detailed, valid, and clearly documented in the incident report as well as in the Home and Community Services Information System (HCSIS) notes.
  • Incident report extensions will be approved for 30 days from previous report due date.

OLTL staff will respond to extension requests within 3 business days by replying to the requestor to let them know if the request was approved or rejected. If rejected, the reason for the rejection will be included in the response. If approved, OLTL staff will enter the extension in EIM.

Any questions regarding the information in this email should be directed here.

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Project Goal: To improve service delivery and processes for DHS’ clients, DHS staff, and business partners

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (PA DHS) is launching a website to share information about the ECM system up to and beyond implementation. The website is intended to communicate key information of the services provided to participants and families through multiple DHS program offices, regardless of the human services program or county providing the service.

The ECM website can be accessed here.

ECM will replace several legacy systems across program offices through the implementation of one common solution. By means of this website, users can get acclimated with all ECM subsystems and their functions. The primary pages and a brief synopsis are as follows:

  • About ECM: An overview of ECM, its timelines, goals and objectives, benefits, scope, and project governance structure.
  • Stakeholder: An overview of the participants who benefit from ECM. This will include links to the subpages for the different stakeholder groups, including the Program Areas, County Organizations, Hearings and Appeals, Providers, Service/Support Coordinators, Administrative Entities and Those we Serve.
  • Development: Description of the scope of the project, the technology used, methods used to implement and operate the future ECM, and the phases of the project. The development and maintenance of the ECM system will follow a hybrid-agile system methodology which will be described in more detail within this area of the website. System development involves the process of producing and sustaining an information technology system. It covers technology, people, and processes.
  • Change and Training: Information about the system including training materials, user guides, and schedules. It is key that the stakeholders and those we serve are supported throughout the entire project process.
  • News: Communications such as press releases, news coverage, and announcements.
  • ECM FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions that cover various topics like general information, the timeline for the project, implementation process, and trainings.

We hope that you will refer to the website often as more information is posted while PA DHS and its partners prepare for the initial launch.

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has issued additional guidance on the Enterprise Incident Management (EIM) Enhancements.

As stated in the ListServ communication sent on November 24, 2021, Critical Incident Report Extensions changes will be implemented in the EIM system on December 11, 2021. Once the maximum number of allowed extensions is reached, providers and service coordinators (SCs) will need to contact OLTL if additional extensions are needed.

When requesting incident report extensions, please follow these instructions:

  • Requests must be submitted to OLTL at least 5 business days prior to incident report due date, via email.
  • Reasons for prior extensions must be clearly documented in the incident report.
  • The reason for an extension request must be detailed, valid, and clearly documented in the incident report as well as in the Home and Community Services Information System (HCSIS) notes.
  • Incident report extensions will be approved for 30 days from previous report due date.
  • The following information must be included in the request for extension:
    • Participant’s Name
    • Participant’s Master Client Index (MCI) Number
    • EIM Incident ID
    • Incident Discovery Date
    • Incident Original Due Date Incident Primary Category
    • Reason for Extension Request (must be clearly documented in critical incident report and HCSIS notes)
    • Submission date (at least 5 business days prior to report due date)
    • Person submitting request (name and title)
    • Agency/Managed Care Organization (MCO) Name

OLTL staff will respond to extension requests within 3 business days by replying to the requestor to let them know if the request was approved or rejected. If rejected, the reason for the rejection will be included in the response. If approved, OLTL staff will enter the extension in EIM.

OLTL has drafted a form to use in the near future. Once the form is approved, providers will be notified. Any questions regarding the information should be directed here.

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