AHCA/NCAL Unveils COVID-19 Grant and Loan Management Resource Guide Patrick Connole 4/29/2020 FinanceCaregiving Page Content The American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) has developed a basic primer (login required) for organizing oversight and day-to-day management of the array of federal grants and loans available to long term care providers during the COVID-19 emergency. The guidance includes federal cost reporting guidelines as well as recommended financial management approaches for association members. The document will be updated as the federal government and states release new or revised guidance. To download the Resource Guide, providers need to log into the AHCA/NCAL website and go here or the Finance and Reimbursement section of the association’s COVID-19 webpage. Also, available to AHCA/NCAL members is a COVID-Related Loss and Cost Calculator (login required). The purpose of this Excel Workbook is to offer a basic tool for providers to assess allowable costs already reimbursed by pre-COVID payers, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and compare such reimbursement to shortfalls where grants and loans fill funding gaps. This tool will be particularly useful with reporting on and documenting use of the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund grants, AHCA/NCAL said. To download the calculator, providers can log into the AHCA/NCAL website and go here, or the Finance and Reimbursement section of its COVID-19 webpage. In other news, the AHCA Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment FAQs have been updated to reflect the April 26 announcement by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that it is reevaluating the amounts that will be paid under its Accelerated Payment Program to Part A facility-based providers, including skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and suspending its Advance Payment Program to Part B suppliers effective immediately. Specifically impacting SNFs, beginning on April 26, CMS will be reevaluating all pending and new applications for Accelerated Payments submitted by SNFs and other facility-based providers in light of the $175 billion recently appropriated by Congress for health care provider relief payments. Significant additional funding will continue to be available to health care providers through these other programs, AHCA/NCAL said. Please email COVID19@ahca.org for additional questions, or visit ahcancal.org/coronavirus for more information. Related News COVID-19 Caregiving Skilled Nursing Facility Occupancy Rates Hit New Low Before Vaccines Took Hold In the new year, numbers of new COVID cases have dropped steadily in both nursing homes and the general population. READ MORE COVID-19 Caregiving CMS Data Show 82 Percent Drop in Nursing Home COVID Cases A simultaneous 46 percent drop in local community cases shows that vaccines are having an impact in protecting the nursing home population. READ MORE COVID-19 Caregiving Nursing Homes Unveil New Goal to Have 75 Percent of Staff Vaccinated by June 30 CMS data show cases and deaths in nursing homes are declining rapidly, which indicates the vaccines are helping drive down infections. READ MORE View All News Related Articles COVID-19 Workforce 3/3/2021 Protecting Our Staff Has Never Been More Critical Our nation’s most vulnerable population has been amongst the hardest hit by the historic COVID-19 pandemic. READ MORE COVID-19 2/28/2021 Covid-19 Update As of Feb. 22, 2021. READ MORE Finance COVID-19 2/28/2021 Providers Set Their Sights on Path to Financial Recovery Nobody saw the pandemic coming, but each long term and post-acute care (LT/PAC) provider is planning on how its business will emerge from the most challenging year for the profession in history. READ MORE