CMS Undertakes Slate of Actions on Nursing Home Pandemic Response

Because some individuals with intellectual / developmental disabilities (I/DD) live in nursing homes, we are sharing these announcements by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS):

• The release of a “Medicaid Informational Bulletin (CIB) that provides guidance to states on flexibilities that are available to increase reimbursement for nursing facilities that implement specific infection control practices, such as designating a quarantine or isolation wing for COVID-19 patients”.
• The implementation of a “national nursing home training program for frontline nursing home staff and nursing home management. The training is designed to equip both frontline caregivers and their management with the knowledge they need to stop the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in their nursing homes.”
• The release of “guidance for nursing homes and clinical laboratories to assist in enhancing their abilities to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to nursing home residents and their front line staff.”
• The extension of “legal protections to health providers who administer coronavirus tests to screen people without symptoms in group living facilities such as nursing homes.”