NAPP News, March 2011


NAPP Welcomes New Board Members/Officers
NAPP recently announced the election of three board members and the appointment of board officers. Members voted to install Dave Caloiaro, Dee O'Conner and Mich Magness as members of the board. Caloiaro and O'Conner were re-appointed to the board for a three year term and Mich Magness joined the board as a new member. Other board members include: Sam Fante, Jennifer Glick, Sandra (Sandy) Jensen, Willard L. Mays, Nancy Shanley, Dennis Temple and Ex-officio Member Janet Spinelli. At the February 17 Board meeting the NAPP board installed new Board officers.
Follow up to the November PASRR web series talk News of DOJ activities: Civil Rights / ADA – New Issue of Department of Justice Publication Includes Olmstead Update The January 2011 edition of “Disability Rights Online News” is now available. This issue includes a summary of recent Olmstead actions by the Department of Justice (DOJ). See: http://www.ada.gov/disabilitynews.htm. News of appointment of web series speaker, Roger Bearden New York Governor Cuomo has announced his nomination of Roger Bearden to serve as Chair of the Commission on Quality of Care and Office of Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities.
Follow up to the December PASRR web series talk: Research in Review Tracking nursing home admissions for persons with mental illness Is your state serving a high number of people with mental illness in nursing facilities? High is, of course, a relative term, so information from other states would help you put your state’s experience into perspective. Click here to read more of this article, written by David Grabowski
National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices On January 4, 2011, President Obama signed into law the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA). This legislation is designed to lead to the development of a national strategy on dealing with Alzheimer's disease in the United States. At its 2011 annual meeting, AAIDD will host a meeting of a National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices to feed into this effort and ensure that the concerns and needs of people with ID and their families, when affected by dementia, are considered as part of this national strategy. At this time, a National Task Group is seeking interested persons who may contribute to its work. If you are interested in contributing to this effort please get in touch with either Seth Keller, M.D. (President, American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry) at sethkeller@aol.com or Matthew Janicki, Ph.D. (University of Illinois at Chicago) at mjanicki@uic.edu.
Health Care Reform / Medicaid – CMS Issues Proposed Rules on the Community First Choice Option On Friday, Feb. 25, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register regarding the Community First Choice (CFC) Option. The CFC Option is a new Medicaid provision, added by the Affordable Care Act, to allow states to provide a comprehensive community-based service to people who would otherwise need a nursing home or institutional level of care. The CFC Option will provide states with an additional 6% federal matching rate in reimbursement for services provided to eligible people under the option. The DPC will be analyzing the proposed regulations for the CFC Option over the next several weeks and provide that analysis and suggested comments to chapters and affiliates prior to the due date for comments. Public comments must be received by CMS no later than 5:00 pm on April 26. View the NPRM at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-02-25/pdf/2011-3946.pdf.
Profiles of State Innovation The Center for Health Care Strategies recently released the "Roadmap for Managing Long-Term Support Services." This report features five states (Arizona, Hawaii, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin) with demonstrated expertise in managed care approaches for individuals with long-term care needs. The resulting “roadmap” outlines 10 critical mileposts for successfully designing models for managed LTSS. It also identifies key ACA provisions that support state efforts to improve long-term care delivery. For more information visit the Home and Community Based Services web-site or go directly to a PDF of the report by clicking here.

You're Invited to . . . You are invited to join a NAPP committee. Now is an exciting time for you to become more active in NAPP. There are several committees that are ready to welcome new committee members and new ideas. Committees include: Budget/Fiscal Committee Education Committee Governance Committee Membership Committee Contact NAPP for more information on how to join a committee.
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