On April 14, President Biden signed the Medicare sequester suspension bill.
This legislation continues the suspension of the 2% Medicare reimbursement cuts (the "sequester") through December 31, 2021. The continued suspension applies to all Medicare billers, including home health, hospices, PACE organizations and skilled nursing facilities.
The House Financial Services Committee considered 17 bills as part of its hearing on housing infrastructure legislation on April 14, including a draft bill that would provide $2.5 billion for the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program. The funding can also be used to provide residents with access to high-speed internet.
An April 13 hearing on, Separate and Unequal: The Legacy of Racial Discrimination in Housing, coincided with steps from HUD to reinstate fair housing rules undermined by the Trump Administration: affirmatively furthering fair housing and disparate impact.
President Biden’s discretionary funding request offers a blueprint for Congress to build on the successes of the recently passed American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and complement the goals of the President’s infrastructure proposal, the American Jobs Plan. The President believes now is the time to build on efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and improve the public health infrastructure.
House Committee on Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) is circulating a sign-on letter to her House colleagues in support of strong rental assistance funding levels for several HUD programs, including Section 202 Housing for the Elderly and Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance. Once the signatures have been gathered, the letter will be sent to House majority and minority appropriators. Representatives have until April 21 to sign the letter.
The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 appropriated $2 billion dollars for a COVID-19 funeral assistance program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This is an opportunity for those who lost a loved one to COVID and are facing financial hardship to get assistance with funeral costs.
Here are some key things to know.
April 1, 2021, Washington, DC—A top aging services organization released a plan to build the national aging services infrastructure needed to keep up with America’s growing older population.
Contact: Lisa Sanders, lsanders@leadingage.org 202-508-9407
We represent more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers and other mission-minded organizations that touch millions of lives every day. Alongside our members and 38 state partners, we use applied research, advocacy, education, and community-building to make America a better place to grow old. Our membership, which now includes the providers of the Visiting Nurse Associations of America, encompasses the continuum of services for people as they age, including those with disabilities. We bring together the most inventive minds in the field to lead and innovate solutions that support older adults wherever they call home. For more information visit leadingage.org.
On March 31, the White House outlined its new “American Jobs Plan,” which calls for approximately $2 trillion in infrastructure and workforce investments across sectors, including affordable housing and home and community-based services (HCBS). More details about the American Jobs Plan are expected to be unveiled by the President on the afternoon of March 31.
The range of need among the not-for-profit providers varies from as little as $10,000 for an adult day services program to as much as $20 million for a full continuum aging services provider delivering services in multiple states. And yet, if the adult day service program closes because it doesn’t receive funds, it may impact fewer people but the effect will still be profound for those families struggling to care for their loved ones with dementia, while trying to hold down a job.
On March 30, President Biden signed legislation extending the application period for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans through May 31. In addition, banks now have until June 30 to process PPP applications. Without this extension, the program deadlines would have been March 31.
This extension received broad bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate.
LeadingAge members who were considering PPP loan applications now have until the end of May to apply if they so choose.
