Here is your weekly Home Health Weekly Recap from National. Here is your weekly Hospice Weekly Recap from National.
We have no new HCBS updates to share this week.
We have no new Workforce updates to share this week. In the meantime, please see the links below for the latest Workforce Weekly Recaps from National. Here is your weekly Workforce Weekly Recap
CDC Releases Updated Return-to-Work Guidance. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has released updated guidance outlining recommendations for work restriction for healthcare personnel related to respiratory viruses. LeadingAge has vigorously advocated for such guidance for years. The guidance replaces the Interim Guidance for Managing Healthcare Personnel with SARS-CoV-2 Infection or Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 previously used for work restrictions for healthcare personnel exposed to or infected with COVID-19. The new guidance is based on recommendations from CDC’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC), approved during the Committee’s last meeting in November 2024 before it was disbanded in March 2025. The new guidance applies to respiratory illnesses “not addressed elsewhere” in CDC guidance, including flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and COVID-19. According to this guidance, asymptomatic healthcare personnel who have been exposed to a respiratory illness do not need to be restricted from work but should wear source control from the day of first exposure through at least the fifth day after exposure. Healthcare personnel with a suspected or confirmed viral respiratory infection should be restricted from work until all four conditions are met: At least three days have passed since symptom onset (or first positive test, for asymptomatic infections), The individual is fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications, Symptoms are improving, and The individual feels well enough to return to work. Testing to determine the specific respiratory illness is not required; however, CDC recommends following guidance specific to the respiratory pathogen should the individual opt for testing. LeadingAge is very pleased to see this updated guidance after years of advocacy and urges CDC to similarly update transmission-based precautions for healthcare settings and retire outdated guidance for SARS-CoV-2 infections among patients in healthcare settings, including residents in nursing homes. Provider can see the 10/8/26 presentation from ICAP with a summary of the requirements for health care providers regarding respiratory illness. Infection Control Guidance: Measles. With measles cases being reported across the U.S., LeadingAge members should be prepared to identify and address this highly contagious illness. Stay on top of case prevalence in your local area and coordinate with your local public health for guidance. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) also has resources available to help. Check out Healthcare Providers: Stay Alert for Measles and Measles Preparedness and Response in Healthcare Settings to get started. LeadingAge to Host CMS Conditions of Participation Listening Session November 18. At the next Hospice Quality and Compliance Workgroup meeting on November 18 at 1pm ET, staff from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will join for a LeadingAge member listening session regarding changes to the Conditions of Participation (CoPs). If you missed the three listening sessions hosted in October by CMS you have a second opportunity to provide feedback on how to improve the quality, safety, and integrity of the program. This is also an opportunity to discuss the nonprofit, mission driven difference and how the quality we provide can be extended to all hospices. Sign up for the Hospice Quality and Compliance Network here.
Ready for the holidays? As everyone starts reaching for the holiday decorations, we would like to remind you about the fire safety rules that surveyors will be looking for when they are in your community. Be sure to check tags, locations and decorations to ensure that you are meeting the requirements. Holiday Decorations in Health Care Occupancies Combustible decorations are prohibited in health care occupancies unless one of the following are met: Decorations are flame-retardant treated with a listed product (UL) The decorations meet the requirements of NFPA 701 (test for fire spread) Decorations meet NFPA 289 (fire test) Decorations are not required to be flame retardant (1-3 above) when decorations such as photographs, paintings and other art are attached directly to walls, ceilings and non-fire-rated doors and: a. Decorations do not interfere with door operation and latching b. Decorations do not exceed 30% of wall, ceiling and door that it is attached to. (30% of wall, 30% of ceiling, 30% of door) c. Decorations do not exceed 50% inside of resident sleeping room wall, ceiling and door that it is attached to. (50% of wall, 50% of ceiling, 50% of door) 5. Decorations such as photographs, paintings are in limited quantities that are not considered a fire hazard The key is to use art that is attached directly to the wall, ceiling or door. It should be fairly flat and not consist of high surface area materials. “Live” Christmas trees, wreaths, and other similar cuttings from live plants are not permitted. Artificial Christmas trees, wreaths and other similar items are permitted when they are labeled as flame-retardant. Decorations that hang from the ceiling or narrow the corridor are not permitted. Holiday lights must be UL listed. Lighting and temporary wiring (extension cords) can only be used for 90 days. Documentation of start date of lighting must be provided. (NFPA 70, 590.3) Here is your Life Plan Community Weekly Recap .
New SNF Reports Now Available in LeadingAge Report Portal. New Five-Star Reports are now available for nursing home members in the LeadingAge Report Portal. These reports are based on the October update to Nursing Home Care Compare, which was a quarterly refresh. As such, the overall Five Star Rating as well as each of the domain ratings – health inspections, staffing, and quality measures – have been updated. LeadingAge members can access their reports on the LeadingAge Report Portal . The next quarterly refresh of the Five-Star Quality Rating System will occur in January 2027. Senate Democrats Question CMS Risk-Based Nursing Home Surveys. On October 26, 2026, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz raising concerns about the agency’s Risk-Based Survey program. The program, which CMS began implementing nationally in September, allows qualifying nursing homes to receive shorter, more focused recertification surveys with smaller survey teams. The senators argue that abbreviated surveys could miss resident harm and question whether the process meets federal survey requirements. They cite Consumer Voice findings that some qualifying nursing homes had recent histories of abuse citations or payment denials. CMS says the approach directs limited survey resources toward nursing homes with greater risks; all nursing homes remain subject to surveys at least every 15 months. The senators requested answers by November 9 on the program’s legal basis, evidence supporting its eligibility criteria, and how CMS will monitor resident outcomes and respond to missed deficiencies. LeadingAge has long advocated for risk-based surveys as part of a national effort to modernize survey and certification. Our forthcoming response to the Senate Finance Committee's long-term care RFI will provide another opportunity to highlight the benefits of this program and the positive impact on our members. For more information on this, see our full article here . OIG Issues Report on Nursing Home Minimum Spending Requirements. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report on October 21 detailing results of an audit that explored implementation and challenges in four states that have enacted nursing home minimum spending requirements. The audit examined the experiences of both the state and providers within those states related to these requirements that could be helpful in informing future policy decisions related to minimum spending and future implementation of the pending requirement for states to report the percentage of Medicaid payments that are spent on direct care staff compensation in nursing homes. Recall that this requirement was finalized in the 2024 nursing home minimum staffing standards rule and while the staffing standards themselves were repealed, this portion of the rule was subject to neither the repeal nor the moratorium imposed by Congress through HR 1. Through this audit, OIG found that data collection, reporting, and review were common implementation issues among both the state agencies and the providers. OIG recommended that CMS utilize this information as it moves forward with implementation of the Medicaid payment transparency reporting requirements and any future rulemaking that may be considered related to minimum spending requirements. Ready for the holidays? As everyone starts reaching for the holiday decorations, we would like to remind you about the fire safety rules that surveyors will be looking for when they are in your community. Be sure to check tags, locations and decorations to ensure that you are meeting the requirements. Holiday Decorations in Health Care Occupancies Combustible decorations are prohibited in health care occupancies unless one of the following are met: Decorations are flame-retardant treated with a listed product (UL) The decorations meet the requirements of NFPA 701 (test for fire spread) Decorations meet NFPA 289 (fire test) Decorations are not required to be flame retardant (1-3 above) when decorations such as photographs, paintings and other art are attached directly to walls, ceilings and non-fire-rated doors and: a. Decorations do not interfere with door operation and latching b. Decorations do not exceed 30% of wall, ceiling and door that it is attached to. (30% of wall, 30% of ceiling, 30% of door) c. Decorations do not exceed 50% inside of resident sleeping room wall, ceiling and door that it is attached to. (50% of wall, 50% of ceiling, 50% of door) 5. Decorations such as photographs, paintings are in limited quantities that are not considered a fire hazard. The key is to use art that is attached directly to the wall, ceiling or door. It should be fairly flat and not consist of high surface area materials. “Live” Christmas trees, wreaths, and other similar cuttings from live plants are not permitted. Artificial Christmas trees, wreaths and other similar items are permitted when they are labeled as flame-retardant. Decorations that hang from the ceiling or narrow the corridor are not permitted. Holiday lights must be UL listed. Lighting and temporary wiring (extension cords) can only be used for 90 days. Documentation of start date of lighting must be provided. (NFPA 70, 590.3)
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We have no new Affordable Housing updates to share this week. In the meantime, please see the links below for the latest Affordable Housing Weekly Recaps from National. Here is your weekly Affordable Housing Weekly Recap.
Here is your weekly Home Health Weekly Recap from National. Here is your weekly Hospice Weekly Recap from National.
We have no new HCBS updates to share this week.
