Send a Message to Legislators on CORI Delays

A new message is available on the Legislative Action Center of our advocacy page relating to the delay in CORI processing for potential employees that agencies are experiencing.

Please take the time to read the brief email message and send it to your local legislators, as well as the House and Senate Chairs of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, by clicking here. All you have to do is fill in your contact information, click send, and our website will take care of the rest.

Learn more about the Alliance’s efforts surrounding the CORI processing issue by clicking here.

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Alliance Members Receive Discount at Partners Symposium

Up from Crisis: Overhauling Healthcare Information, Payment and Delivery in Extraordinary Times

With more than 1,000 healthcare and technology leaders world-wide, from hospitals, clinics, home health agencies, large employers and health plans attendees will  exchange ideas with tech entrepreneurs, business execs, investors, government officials and patient organization representatives.

Partners is extending a special opportunity to to all Home Care Alliance members, friends, and colleagues to register for October’s Symposium for $795; that is $100 off the regular rate.  To obtain the discount, register as “general public” at on the event’s website and type in “HCAlliance” in the invitation code box.

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New Medicare Website Launched to Help Caregivers

A new website called “Ask Medicare” was recently launched as a resource and navigation tool for the millions of caregivers so that answers and information can be readily obtained for those who give much of their time caring for others.

Many features are available on the site, including help with billing, comparing drug plans, locating care, and even a chat room for caregivers to exchange their stories and experiences.

CNN did a report on the new website, which you can see by clicking here. The article focuses on Kim Mickens, a Baltimore woman who spends 40 hours per week caring for her mother Delphine who lives with Alzheimer’s disease.  Below a a brief clip from the CNN story:

Today, Mickens and her mother are a loving twosome. When Mickens is at work, she leaves Delphine with an in-home nurse and relies on her son to help out when he gets home from school. Mickens finally feels content about the quality of care her mother is getting, and she says it would have never happened so quickly had she not found the Ask Medicare Web site.

“I have no problems with it: Once I punch it in, it comes up and takes me out to all the different Web sites,” say Mickens. “It’s very helpful. I am glad they came up with it.”

Click here to visit the newly-launched “Ask Medicare” web tool for caregivers.

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CMS Proposes 2010 Medicare Home Health Rates

On Thursday, July 30, CMS posted proposed changes to the Medicare home health payment rates for calendar year 2010. Under the propose changes, the national standard episode rate for home health services will see a net increase of 2%, from the current $2,271.92 to $2,317.47.

The new rules also update the wage index for each metropolitan and rural area. For Massachusetts, the indexes for Barnstable and Springfield are going down slightly. All other regions will see a small increase.

The Alliance has prepared a spreadsheet of 2010 rates based on the CMS proposal.

**Note that these rates are subject to change if Congress passes a healthcare reform bill this year.**

Organizations Send Joint Letter to Legislators on CORI issue

A group of six long-term and community care organizations sent a joint letter to key state legislators regarding cutbacks that have resulted in a burdensome delay in CORI processing.

The organizations – Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Senior Care Association, Massachusetts Council for Home Care Aide Services, the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, Massachusetts Assisted Living Facilities Association, and MassAging  – voiced concern over a substantial reduction in staff to the Criminal History Systems Board (CHSB) who, among other things, process Criminal Offender Record Information for employers.

Click here to read the joint letter sent to legislators.

The group of organizations, and the members they serve, were informed that processing delays could take up to six weeks from the former turnaround time of two days. Until the state realizes the goal of an automated system where access to information for employers and landlords is near instantaneous, the joint letter asks that an alternative be reached so that agencies can hire staff to, in turn, deliver the necessary care that patients require.

For the latest updates on CORI processing delays and other pertinent news, check the CHSB website by clicking here.

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Congressman Barney Frank Responds to Alliance Letter

The Alliance recently received a response from the office of Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank after Home Care Alliance Executive Director Patricia Kelleher urged him to sign onto two home health initiatives:  One was a letter opposing damaging cuts to home health and the other asked that he sign on to the Home Health Working Group.

Both of those initiatives were led by Frank’s colleague, Congressman Jim McGovern. The Alliance appreciates the response and the support that Congressman Frank offered.  Click here to see the sign-on letter opposing cuts to home health, along with the supporting signatures from members of Congress.

See the Alliance’s letter sent to Congressman Frank below, which was sent to the entire state’s Congressional Delegation in late April, and click here to see Frank’s response.

Dear Congressman Frank:

On behalf of Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts, I urge you to sign on to a pair of initiatives championed by your colleagues James McGovern and Walter Jones that opposes home health care cuts in the President’s budget and establishes a House Home Health Working Group.

Home-based services promote independent living for seniors and other individuals in need of care, which help them to remain in their communities where they are most comfortable and familiar. These services are cost-effective in keeping patients out of the hospital and nursing homes. At an economically challenging juncture when home health rates are being frozen and reduced in Massachusetts on the state level, we need to encourage and expand the utilization of home-based care rather than make damaging cuts.

The Working Group will look to further the role of home health in our nation’s health care delivery system while the McGovern-Jones “dear colleague” letter – addressed to the Committee on Ways & Means – resists the President’s proposal to cut Medicare home health payments by $13.16 billion over the next five years. If the President’s proposal is allowed to pass, Massachusetts would lose $16.7 million in Medicare reimbursement for fiscal year 2010 alone. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) report may have uncovered sporadic fraud in home health, but a better approach to controlling Medicare home health spending is to prosecute and punish the few agencies responsible for that fraud instead of reducing rates.

Again, please contact the offices of Congressman McGovern and/or Congressman Jones to support your constituents who deliver and receive home health care services.

Sincerely,

Patricia Kelleher
Executive Director

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Alliance Testifies on Nurse Delegation

One of the Alliance’s highest legislative priorities, Senate Bill 860, An Act Relative to Home Health Aides, came before the Joint Committee on Public Health for a hearing on July 28. A coalition of home health agencies and supporting organizations attended to comment favorably on the bill, which is aimed at refining the state’s Nurse Practice Act (NPA) to allow the administration of certain medications to a home health patient by a trained and certified home health aide.

Home Care Alliance Board President and Executive Director of Hebrew Senior-Life Home Health Care  Patricia O’Brien submitted testimony, which you can view by clicking here.

O’Brien was joined by Norwell VNA Executive Director Meg Doherty, Stoughton VNA Executive Director Lisa Parent, and VNA of Boston Home Health Aide Manager Margo Bourne. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Richard T. Moore, came to speak in support of the bill as did Mass Home Care, the Massachusetts Council of Home Care Aides, and the Hospice and Palliative Care Federation of Massachusetts.

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Newsletters Available Online

The July 24 Update and the July Private Eye are now available on our members-only newsletter archive.

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Eagle-Tribune Announces Home Care Manager of the Year

The Eagle-Tribune Online (North Andover, MA and area) announced Kathryn Baker of the VNA of Greater Lowell as the Home Care Alliance’s “Manager of the Year” in their business section.

Click here to the announcement.

Kathryn, known as “Katie” to her co-workers and friends, began her work at VNA of Greater Lowell 20 years ago as a physical therapist, was promoted to Rehabilitation Manager and again promoted to her current position as Director of Rehabilitation. She is now chair of the agency’s Policy and Procedure Committee and a member of the Performance Improvement Committee, Customer Service Committee, and Job Satisfaction Committee. Having earned the respect of her peers and employees, Kathryn’s rehabilitation staff has an excellent retention rate, according to VNA of Greater Lowell Executive Director Nancy Pettenelli, who said most of have been with the agency for more than 10 years.

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2009 Compensation and Benefit Surveys Available


We’re pleased to announce that the 2009 Compensation & Benefits Survey Reports are now available for purchase on our publications store.

The 2009 Compensation & Benefits Survey Reports provide salary and professional rate ranges for all positions in the home care industry. They are indispensable tools for HR managers, proving a quick and accurate reference of industry pay standards for your employees.

The Alliance publishes two surveys: one for Medicare/Medicaid certified agencies, another for private duty agencies.  Both display state-wide results, as well as data based on geographic area and agency size.

The 2009 surveys contain information about prevailing pay and benefits for the full range of positions in home care agencies.  Both surveys list pay and benefits figures for dozens of positions, including: executive, administrative, supervisory, care giving, and clerical positions.  In addition to listing state-wide results, the surveys also publish figures organized by geographic region and company net revenue.

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