Latest News
Request for Proposal
Below is the link to the Request for Proposal for In-Home Services. The additional links are for documents related to the RFP process.
The deadline to submit is Friday, March 10, 2023, by 5pm.
Please email RFP packet with live copies of UCM and budget spreadsheets no later than 5PM on Friday, March 10. Hard copies can mailed with postmark by that date.
Email Address: Christine Bittle (cjbittle@legacylink.org) Mailing Address: Legacy Link / Attention: Christine Bittle / P.O. Box 1480 / Oakwood, GA 30566
If you have any questions, please contact Christine Bittle at cjbittle@legacylink.org.
- RFP – Personal Care and Homemaker Services
- Taxonomy
- Uniform Cost Methodology (UCM) Training Manual
- UCM Spreadsheet Submittal Checklist
- In-Home Services SFY2023 UCM
- In-Home Services SFY2023 Homemaker and Personal Care Budget Update Chart
- In-Home Services Planning Allocations
- Business Agreement
- Debarment Certification
- Contractual and Standard Program Assurances
- Certificate Lobbying
- Cover Page for RFP
- Sample Contract
Medicare News
- February 2023 – Medicare Minute – Medicare Open Enrollment: How to Enroll, Making Changes, and Avoiding Identity Theft
- January 2023 – Medicare Minute – What’s New for Medicare in 2023
- December 2022 – Medicare Minute – Medicare and Marketplaces
- November 2022 – Medicare Minute – Medicare and the Military
- October 2022 – Medicare Minute – Changing Part D Plans
- September 2022 – Medicare Minute – Medicare’s Open Enrollment Period
- August 2022 – Medicare Minute – Choosing Between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage
- July 2022 – Medicare Minute – Excluded from Medicare Coverage: Long-Term Care, Dental, and Vision
- June 2022 – Medicare Minute – Medicare Coverage of Hospice Care
- May 2022 – Medicare Minute – Medicare Savings Program
- April 2022 – Medicare Minute – Grievances, Complaints, and Beneficiary Resources
- March 2022 – Medicare Minute – How are Preventive Services Covered by Medicare?
- February 2022 – Medicare Minute – Medicare Enrollment Decisions When You Have Other Coverage
- November 2021 – Medicare Minute – Medicare Coverage of Vaccines
- October 2021 – Medicare Minute – Medigaps
- September 2021 – Medicare Minute – Medicare Open Enrollment Period
- August 2021 – Medicare Minute – Common Open Enrollment Notices
- July 2021 – Medicare Minute – Troubleshooting Medicare Coverage Problems
- June 2021 – Medicare Minute – Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage Appeals
- May 2021 – Medicare Minute – Medicare Cost Assistance Programs
- April 2021 – Medicare Minute – Medicare and Changes in Residence
- March 2021 – Medicare Minute – Medicare’s Coverage of Care at Home
- February 2021 – Medicare Minute – Behavioral Health Care Services Coverage
- January 2021 – G.R.E.A.T. News from Georgia SHIP – Medicare Premium Updates
- January 2021 – Medicare Minute – What’s New for Medicare in 2021?
- December 2020 – GeorgiaCares Medicare Minute – Skilled Therapy Coverage
- November 2020 – G.R.E.A.T News from Georgia SHIP – Plan Selection Guide
- October 2020 – G.R.E.A.T. News from Georgia SHIP – Original Medicare Review
- September 2020 – G.R.E.A.T. News from Georgia SHIP – New to Medicare?
- August 2020 – Medicare Minute – Skilled Nursing Facility Coverage
- July 2020 – G.R.E.A.T. News from Georgia SHIP – Advantage Plans & Mental Health Services
I got My Vaccine! What Can I Do Now?
The new vaccines to prevent COVID-19 are a real game changer! With more than three million doses being administered each day, we’re making progress toward achieving the estimated 70 – 90% of people who need to be immune before the pandemic is truly turned around.
Until that day comes, people who have been vaccinated may have a lot of questions. Here are some things to know.
For one thing, you aren’t “fully vaccinated” after that first shot. You can’t walk out of the facility and throw your mask in the air! “Remember that COVID vaccination is a journey,” say epidemiologists from the University of Michigan (U-M). Your body won’t be ready to fight the coronavirus until two weeks after your second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson type. Don’t let up on precautions just yet.
Once the two weeks are up, and you’re officially fully vaccinated, congratulations! “You can do some pre-pandemic activities again, but not everything, yet,” say the U-M experts. They recommend a “go slow” approach to change your habits. “Being vaccinated does not mean that the pandemic is over. It isn’t,” says Dr. Laraine Washer, medical director of infection prevention and epidemiology for Michigan Medicine. “Being vaccinated does mean that you can begin to engage in limited low-risk activities without a mask, such as visiting with a vaccinated friend or two—as long as that friend does not live with people who are at high risk of severe COVID infection and not yet vaccinated.”
Being fully vaccinated also means relaxed quarantine requirements. Unvaccinated people should stay completely home for 10 to 14 days if they are exposed to a person with COVID-19. “But not you!” say the U-M experts. “If you’re vaccinated, and you haven’t developed symptoms, you’re good to go.”
For now, the verdict is still out on how effective the vaccine will be in totally protecting against infection. The situation might be similar to what we experience with the seasonal flu, where a few vaccinated people get a “breakthrough” infection, likely a much milder case than if they hadn’t been vaccinated. It’s also possible that vaccinated people could spread the virus without having any symptoms themselves. We should know more about that as research continues.
Meanwhile, continue to protect yourself and others. “Currently, being vaccinated should not change your behavior in public,” says U-M epidemiologist Amanda Valyko, M.P. H. “You may be interacting with a variety of people that are not yet vaccinated or even not complying with the mask or distancing recommendations. With a large amount of COVID-19 circulating, continue to mask and distance in public to reduce your risk of infection.”
What about travel? The U-M team says those recommendations, too, are a work in progress, and they recommend keeping an eye on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for any updates. You can find that information here. As of now, the CDC says that fully vaccinated people can travel at low risk to themselves within the United States, but should continue to wear a mask on any form of public transit.
So we’re all in this together—and there’s one more way you can help once you’ve got your vaccines. You probably know that social media and people with an agenda have spread false stories about the vaccine. Maybe you even know people who say they won’t get it. They’ve heard the outlandish rumors, and they say they don’t know who to trust.
In fact, they might well trust you! Getting vaccinated is something to brag about! “The word of a friend, relative or neighbor carries more weight with some people than the voices of hundreds of national experts with degrees after their names,” say the U-M experts. “By sharing your experience with people you know, and helping them get solid information, you can make a real difference in the total vaccination effort.”
There’s one more way you can help your friends and loved ones. It can still be challenging to find a vaccine in some areas. Share information about how you did it, and offer to help them. Offer a ride if they need it. It’s certainly worth the effort. Vaccination not only saves lives—it’s also the only way we’re going to get back to normal.
Source: IlluminAge AgeWise reporting on April 13, 2021, press release from the University of Michigan; additional information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.