NFP Grassroots Advocacy – Facility Visits over Recess

Gary Kelso, AHCA’s NFP Council Chair, encourages AHCA’s NFP providers to participate in our grassroots advocacy efforts in 2017.  AHCA would like to help you get facility tours and in-district meetings set up over future recess days.  Please provide your name, facility address, and email address and we will craft the invite and send it to you to send to the Congressional office.  The four brief steps for a successful facility tour visit can be found here.  Please feel free to contact Matthew Smyth and Dana Halvorson who can help you with all of the logistics.

AHCA’s NFP Council member, Van Moore (pictured to the right), meets with Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR-2, pictured on the left) at the Oregon Veterans’ Home in The Dalles.  Van discussed with the Congressman issues impacting AHCA/NCAL members, including the observation stays issue. 

NFPs Engaging in the Political Process

For more information on how NFPs can engage in the political process, please review this webinar and handout from Wiley Rein, LLP.  Both documents will give members of 501(c) 3 tax exempt organizations an overview of what they can and cannot do in regards to lobbying and political activity. 

U.S. Congressional Calendars

As you are planning your visits with members of Congress and their staff in Washington, D.C., or in your district, the Congressional calendars will be of assistance to you.  The U.S. House of Representatives calendar for the 115^th Congress, first session, can be found here.  The tentative U.S. Senate schedule for 2017 can be found here.

AHCA/NCAL Advocacy App

If you haven’t already heard about it, then we wanted to alert you to a great app that allows you to keep abreast of AHCA advocacy efforts.  Among other things, it provides important talking points, issue briefs and features that allow you to take action.  It will be useful not only to you, but serves as a great way for providers to weigh in.  You can get the app by clicking on the appropriate black box below.

 

Download our advocacy app!

   

AHCA’s State of the States Clearinghouse

AHCA members have access to key Medicaid and Medicare information through the State of the States Clearinghouse.  The AHCA State of the States Clearinghouse is a one stop shop for key Medicaid and Medicare information impacting the long term care profession.

This resource provides valuable data, including:

• Overview of the demographic landscape;
• State-specific nursing center occupancy and ownership breakouts; 
• Certificate of Need requirements for nursing centers and state licensure requirements; 
• State data on the cost of care for long term services and supports;  
• State data on the total number of Medicare enrollees; 
• Data on state Medicare Advantage plan enrollees and comparisons to the national average; 
• State and national Medicaid expenditure data;
• State Medicaid rates, costs and shortfalls;
• And other significant state-specific data related to payment structure, managed long term services and home and community based services coverage.

AHCA will continue to provide the most up-to-date information through the Clearinghouse and share new data/resources as they become available.  Also be sure to visit the AHCA Medicaid Page to learn more about the program and to access additional AHCA members-only Medicaid resources.

We’ve Got You Covered! AHCA/NCAL Insurance Solutions Website

The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) offers a variety of comprehensive insurance programs to meet your business needs. Backed by the strength of our membership, AHCA/NCAL Insurance Solutions programs are designed with exclusive member savings and discounts for both the fully-insured or self-insured members.

The program offers health insurance options, group and voluntary benefit packages, an aggressive Stop-Loss insurance program as well as cloud based HR platforms that will help members achieve savings and greater efficiencies on HR services within your company, while also tracking and reporting on key Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements.  For more information, please contact AHCA’s Dave Kyllo at dkyllo@AHCA.org and visit the AHCA/NCAL Insurance Solutions website.  

Articles and Resources of Interest

• Get Involved with the AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program! –longtermcareleader.com
• New Quality Award Examiner Webinar Now Available! – longtermcareleader.com
• Get Your Job Vacancies on Google’s New Search Engine Through the AHCA/NCAL Long Term Care Career Center – longtermcareleader.com
• Delivering the Universal Language of Music Through Mood Media – longtermcareleader.com
• Midlife cardiovascular risk factors may increase chances of dementia – nih.gov
• Serotonin Loss May Drive Cognitive Decline – Medscape.com
• Retinal Imaging Device May Offer Insight Into Alzheimer's – Medscape.com