President Joe Biden signed into law H.R. 10545, the American Relief Act on Saturday, hours after the Senate voted 85-11 and the House voted 366-34 to pass the legislation. The package funds the government through March 14, 2025 and includes $100 billion in disaster relief for areas impacted by natural disasters, of which Argentum advocated for senior living communities to be eligible for assistance.

The package is a pared-down version of a bipartisan agreement (H.R. 10455) that was negotiated over several weeks, but was ultimately withdrawn last Thursday amid public pressure by President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who was tasked by Trump to co-lead a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Trump instead pushed for a different version (H.R. 10515) that the House quickly voted down 174-235.

The package that was signed into law includes short-term extensions of two key health care programs: Medicare hospital-at-home and telehealth flexibilities, which were both due to expire at the end of the year, but will now extend through March 31, 2025. This is a significantly shorter extension than was in the original package that would have extended telehealth flexibilities for two years and hospital-at-home for five years.

The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted 20-1 to advance S. 4776, the Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2024, to extend the law, which expires on September 30, for another five years. The legislation includes Argentum-supported provisions to address workforce shortages and expand multigenerational care models that will aid senior living communities, residents, families, and caregivers.

Argentum continues to make progress on Capitol Hill in advancing our federal public priorities, including most recently as part of the U.S. Senate’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor-HHS appropriations bill, passed at the Committee level last month. 

Argentum successfully secured several workforce provisions in the bill, including increased funding for federal training programs that we are directly engaging with such as Job Corps, WIOA, and federal apprenticeship programs.

Additionally, as a result of our education campaign on direct-care workforce shortages, report language was included directing federal agencies to review the impact of workforce shortages on long-term care affordability and accessibility, and strengthen and expand access to HCBS, facilitate State planning, encourage innovative models that benefit the workforce and care recipients, and support quality and accountability.

Most importantly, the Senate appropriations bill did not include the drastic cuts that were advanced by the U.S. House of Representatives, which calls for reducing federal workforce program funding by nearly 30%, including eliminating Job Corps funding. Argentum spearheaded a grassroots campaign urging lawmakers to oppose these cuts, and greatly appreciates everyone who took part and shared these letters.

Notable elements of the Senate appropriations package include:

Argentum Advocates members are invited to an exclusive policy briefing today at 2:00 pm ET to learn more about the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package and its impact on senior living priorities. Register for this session here.

Argentum is pleased that the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package includes several provisions that we have advocated for in recent months, including language to support the senior care workforce and other job training programs, disaster relief funding to help operators recover from Hurricane Ian, increases in Alzheimer's research funding, among other provisions.

Argentum met with officials of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) this week to discuss matters related to the Provider Relief Fund for Phase IV regular consideration and Phase III reconsiderations.

Argentum met with officials of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) this week to discuss matters related to the Provider Relief Fund for Phase IV regular consideration and Phase III reconsiderations.

Bottom line, Phase IV payment determinations and Phase III reconsiderations will likely be finalized in the very near future and at the latest by mid-September. The new deadline for Phase IV reconsiderations will be at least 45 days from the time HRSA completes all determinations for Phase IV and anyone can file a reconsideration regardless of when they received their determination for Phase IV.

Phase IV
Phase IV is down to a final few applications under review (and if approved subsequent payment) and should be complete in the very near future with a strong likelihood of wrapping up before mid-September. With so few applications remaining under review, if you have not received notice of the payment determination of your Phase IV application, please contact Provider Support at 966-569-3522 for status of your Phase IV application.

Phase IV Reconsideration
The time to file any and all Phase IV reconsideration requests will be 45 days from the time HRSA completes the final Phase IV determination. What this means is that anyone is eligible to file a reconsideration for Phase IV if you believe an error was made by the government in your determination resulting in a denial or underpayment. The biggest change is that those applicants who filed a reconsideration earlier this year will be considered along with those that file their reconsiderations at the latest allowable time (currently 45 days from the date HRSA completes Phase IV application determinations). This means all reconsiderations will be considered at the same time and no preference extended to those that filed earlier. This also means that no matter when you received a determination, you will have an opportunity to file a reconsideration up to 45 days from the time HRSA completes final Phase IV determinations. This will also likely mean that the Phase IV reconsideration process will be completed some time in 2023. We will provide more details regarding deadlines when available.

Phase III Reconsiderations
Scheduled to be finalized by no later than mid-September according to HRSA.

Status of Phase IV and/or Phase III Reconsideration Determinations
If you have not received notice of the status of your Phase IV and/or Phase III reconsideration applications, please contact Provider Support at 866-569-3522.

Optum Pay Account Issues Related to Payment
Please contact Optum Support at 877-620-6194 with questions or issues with creating an Optum Pay account, required for payments of $100,000 or higher, especially if you were determined to receive a payment and payment has not occurred.

Please contact Paul Williams at pwilliams@argentum.org with any questions.

The Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Reporting Portal is open through September 30 for providers that received one or more payment(s) exceeding $10,000, in the aggregate, from January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021.

After months of stalled negotiations, this week Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced an agreement on a budget reconciliation package. Unlike the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better package, which was passed by the House last November, the Manchin-Schumer bill, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), does not include the broad social spending priorities but is instead focused on limited healthcare provisions, climate and energy policy, and deficit reduction.

Argentum is pushing for action in the House of Representatives ahead of the annual August congressional recess in a so-called “minibus” bill, which would lump a number of appropriations bills for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 into a package for passage.