Latest CANHR Alert

Federal Memo Restores Nursing Home Visits!

September 18, 2020September 18, 2020 CANHR STAFF

On September 17th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a memo to the states, restoring visitation in nursing homes. CMS is requiring facilities to permit visitation whenever a facility has had no new COVID outbreaks for 14 days and the community positivity rate is less than 10%. Facilities required to permit visitation are encouraged to have outdoor visitation, weather permitting, but are also required to accommodate indoor visitation, including in resident rooms, when outdoor visits are unavailable.

Urge Governor to Protect Nursing Home Residents from Deadly Power Outages

September 9, 2020September 10, 2020 CANHR STAFF

Please help support SB 1207 (Jackson) by urging Governor Newsom to sign it. This critical bill codifies federal standards that require skilled nursing facilities to have an alternative source of power to protect resident health and safety and maintain safe temperatures for 96 hours during any type of power outage. CANHR and Long Term Care Ombudsman Services of San Luis Obispo County are co-sponsoring SB 1207.The Legislature gave final passage to SB 1207 on August 31 and sent it to the Governor for his signature.

Senior Scams During the Pandemic

August 26, 2020August 27, 2020 CANHR STAFF

Hosted by CANHR Senior Attorney Prescott Cole. During this pandemic, scams targeting seniors are increasing at an alarming rate. Criminals have latched onto COVID-19 as a way to steal money from seniors. In this townhall, we go through several scenarios where con artists use COVID as a pretext to defraud seniors, sometimes costing them their life savings. The information in this townhall is meant to help you and your loved ones protect yourselves from the scam artists taking advantage of seniors’ concerns and fears about the COVID-19 virus.

Materials Download:

Introductory slides (PDF)

Useful Links:

Report Identity Theft

Charity Watch

CANHR Consumer Publications Downloads

California State Controller – Defer Property Taxes

Free Credit Reports – Now Weekly Through April 2021

Report Online Vendors Selling Fake Products

IRS Coronavirus Stimulus Payment FAQ

Eldercare Locator – Report Phone Scams

Report Fradulent Email and Fake App Scams

Reverse Mortgage Fraud Bulletin

Getting Good Long Term Care in a Pandemic

August 13, 2020August 27, 2020 CANHR STAFF

Hosted by CANHR Staff Attorney Tony Chicotel.

Good long term care should not be a casualty of COVID-19; in fact, it has never been more important. But how can residents and their families ensure that good care is being provided when so many rules have been waived and accountability is missing? In this townhall, we reviewed the state of long term care, including visitation, understaffing, and evictions, and then answer questions about the best way to ensure residents are safe and well cared for during the pandemic.

Materials Downloads:

Introductory slides (PDF)

CANHR’s Visitation Rights in California Long Term Care Facilities During the COVID-19 Emergency Fact Sheet (PDF)

California Department of Social Services COVID-19 in RCFEs Data < – To view RCFE data, go to the link on the right side of the page entitled “COVID-19 Positive Cases in Adult and Senior Care Facilities.”

Latest California State Visitation Guidelines

New Visitation Fact Sheet Released.

July 13, 2020July 13, 2020 CANHR STAFF

CANHR has reviewed the various federal and California guidance regarding visitation in long term care facilities and synthesized the rules into a new fact sheet to guide residents and their families. The fact sheet highlights the types of visitation nursing homes and residential care facilities for the elderly must provide and under what conditions as well as the infection control protocols facilities may impose during visits.

Download the Fact Sheet HERE (PDF)

New Policy from Department of Public Health Restores Some Visitation Rights in Nursing Homes

July 8, 2020August 12, 2020 CANHR STAFF

On June 26, the California Department of Public Health released a new policy regarding visitation that, for the first time since March, REQUIRES nursing homes to permit visitors for outdoor and indoor visits. Facilities MUST permit outdoor visitation unless there is a local public health order that prohibits it. Indoor visits must be permitted if a facility meets six criteria: no current COVID-19 outbreak, a decline in cases in the community, no new COVID-19 cases in the facility for the past 14 days, no staffing shortages and not using a COVID-19 staffing waiver, an adequate testing plan per AFL 20-53, and an approved COVID-19 Mitigation Plan.

New Guidance from Department of Social Services Restores Some Visitation Rights in Assisted Living Facilities

July 8, 2020July 10, 2020 CANHR STAFF

On June 26, the California Department of Social Services released updated guidance regarding visitation in PIN 20-23-ASC that, for the first time since March, REQUIRES assisted living facilities to permit visitors under specified narrow circumstances, and permits indoor and outdoor visitation when certain criteria are met. Providers are required to follow the guidance unless there are contradictory or stricter requirements imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), California Department of Public Health (CDPH), or local health departments.

Join our #VisitationSavesLives Campaign!

June 26, 2020August 28, 2020 CANHR STAFF

The recent California state policies described in the summaries above may have been partially motivated by our #VisitationSavesLives campaign. Now that residents are having some of their rights restored, the campaign will advocate for better state enforcement.

To read more about this campaign and see how you can help, please visit our Visitation Saves Lives Website.

Latest CANHR Press Release

JACKSON BILL TO REQUIRE BACKUP POWER FOR NURSING HOMES PASSES ASSEMBLY

August 30, 2020September 2, 2020 CANHR STAFF

This Press Release is from California Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson August 30, 2020 SACRAMENTO –As California faces another wildfire season, rolling blackouts, and potential public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara)’s Senate Bill 1207 to require California nursing homes to have backup power for at least 96 hours during an emergency passed the Assembly today.

Urge Governor Newsom to Implement CANHR’s Action Plan to Save Lives of Long-Term Care Facility Residents

April 10, 2020June 25, 2020 CANHR STAFF

Published April 10th, Introduction updated May 21st, Recommendations Updated June 24th, 2020, The last few months have been an unimaginable tragedy for many long-term care facility residents and their loved ones throughout California. Thousands of residents have died, suffered severe illnesses, or been hospitalized as COVID-19 outbreaks sweep through their facilities. Locked away from their loved ones, residents are suffering and dying alone in facilities that are not prepared or staffed to keep them safe during this pandemic.

COVID-19: Advocating for Nursing Home Residents – Part XI

August 3, 2020August 3, 2020 CANHR STAFF

Courtesy of The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care The landscape of COVID-19 response in nursing homes continues to evolve rapidly at the federal and state levels. The webinar series from Consumer Voice, Center for Medicare Advocacy, Long Term Care Community Coalition and Justice in Aging reviews the latest updates, issuances from CMS, legislation, and strategies for advocates and families.

California’s Deadliest Spring in 20 Years Suggests COVID Undercount

September 21, 2020September 22, 2020 CANHR STAFF

By Phillip Reese, CaliforniaHealthline, September 21 2020 The first five months of the COVID-19 pandemic in California rank among the deadliest in state history, deadlier than any other consecutive five-month period in at least 20 years. And the grim milestone encompasses thousands of “excess” deaths not accounted for in the state’s official COVID death tally: a loss of life concentrated among Blacks, Asians and Latinos, afflicting people who experts say likely didn’t get preventive medical care amid the far-reaching shutdowns or who were wrongly excluded from the coronavirus death count.

CANHR COVID-19 News & Resources