Invitation to Nursing Home Stakeholders to Apply for Grants for Use of Civil Money Penalty (CMP) Funds

PDF Version of DQA 09-044  (PDF, 41 KB)

Invitation to Nursing Home Stakeholders to Apply for Grants for Use of Civil Money Penalty (CMP) Funds

Overview

The purpose of this memo is to announce the availability of grant funding from the civil money penalty (CMP) program that can be used to benefit Wisconsin nursing home residents. These grants are available for projects or programs that are provided through various interested nursing home stakeholders; e.g., facilities, consumer groups, professional nursing home associations, ombudsmen program, quality improvement organizations, etc.

Background

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) collects CMP funds from nursing facilities that have failed to maintain compliance with Federal nursing home requirements. CMS then distributes those funds received from Medicaid nursing facilities and from the Medicaid part of dually-participating skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) to the states.

Section 1919(h)(2)(A)(ii) of the Social Security Act provides that CMP funds collected by a state, which are the result of certain actions by nursing facilities or individuals, must be applied to the protection of the health or property of residents of nursing facilities that the state or the Secretary finds deficient.

In August 2007, the Department of Health Services revised DHS 132 to include provisions to permit the Department to form a Quality Assurance and Improvement Committee (QAI) to make recommendations for the disbursement of CMP funds earmarked for improving the quality of care in Wisconsin nursing homes. 

Historically, the Department made the grant decisions and it was felt that including other interested parties would make the process more representative and equitable. The committee was appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Health Services and represents a cross-section of long term care stakeholders.

Action

The changes in Wisconsin Administrative Code DHS Chapter 132 charge the Division of Quality Assurance's Quality Assurance and Improvement Committee with distributing funds for innovative projects designed to protect the property, health, safety, and welfare of facility residents and to improve the efficiency and cost effectiveness of facility operations so as to improve the quality of life, care, and treatment of its residents.

Presently, the committee is inviting nursing home stakeholders to submit project proposals for projects/programs that will benefit nursing home residents. The committee will utilize the following guidelines when reviewing submitted project proposal:

1. Identified areas of need within a facility, a corporation, the state, or regions to be addressed through a project.
2. Projects that identify opportunities and strategies for general improvement in licensed nursing homes.
3. Proposals that employ innovative cost-effective methods for improving the operation and maintenance of facilities and that protect residents' rights, health, safety and welfare, thus improving residents' quality of life.
4. Programs/projects are practical, sustainable, and can be replicated by others after the funding has ended.

Individuals or groups interested in submitting a project or program proposal to the QAI committee for consideration for a CMP funded grant should use the following form:

DQA form F-00176, Project Proposal, at: http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/forms/DQAnum.asp

Submit the form to: 

Alfred C. Johnson, Director
Bureau of Technology, Licensing and Education
Division of Quality Assurance
P.O. Box 2969
Madison, WI 53701-2969
Telephone: (608) 266-2055
Fax: (608) 267-7119
E-mail: Alfred.Johnson@wisconsin.gov

Thank you for your interest. We look forward to receiving project proposals.

PDF: The free Acrobat Reader^® software is needed to view and print portable document format (PDF) files. Learn more.