The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) along with the Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council released a new resource, the “Missouri Plain Language Guide for People with Disabilities, their Families and Caregivers,” on COVID-19 and the vaccine.

Through this partnership, the new guide will ensure that important information related to COVID-19 and vaccine access is more accessible to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and others with disabilities affecting reading, comprehension and other cognitive functions.

“After reading this new Missouri Plain Language Guide, I was very impressed with two very important things: 1) the amount of important and vitally necessary information that it contains; and 2) how plain and understandable the format is, that was used to present it, without diluting any of the valuable information that it conveys to the reader. I believe that this will prove to be a very valuable tool for persons with disabilities and many others,” said Cathy Enfield, Chairperson and Self-Advocate, Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council.

“There is so much information available about COVID-19 and vaccines, that it could be hard to navigate through the information. We value the collaboration with DHSS, to provide accurate information in a plain language format that is accessible to so many who experience disabilities. We look forward to continuing this important work to ensure the disability community has information to make decisions about their health,” said Vicky Davidson, Executive Director, Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council.

People with disabilities, their family members and caregivers have been eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the earliest phases of Missouri’s vaccine rollout. Currently, any Missourian age 12 and older is eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Since the beginning of 2021, DHSS and the Missouri Advisory Committee on Equitable COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution have been focused on deploying new strategies and resources to meet the disability community where they are – this new guide is a resource to support Missouri’s disability community and those individuals, family members and caregivers who support them.

“Since day one at DHSS, our goal has been to ensure Missouri’s most vulnerable, people with disabilities and those who support them (i.e., their families, caregivers and disability service providers) were at the front of the line to receive the free vaccine throughout our vaccine roll-out process. Throughout the year, we have also been working to deploy new strategies and resources to meet the disability community where they are. Our new plain language guide is an additional resource for Missourians with disabilities and those who support them,” said Sara Hart Weir, co-chair of the Missouri Advisory Committee on Equitable COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution.

Enfield added, “We simply need information to be supplied in a clear, plain and understandable way. As Chair of the Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council, I am proud of the work that our members and staff did on the document. I applaud their efforts and the efforts of all those who were involved.”

If you or someone you know is unable to visit a COVID-19 vaccination clinic without assistance, please call the COVID-19 Hotline at 877-435-8411 and press option 4 to be routed directly to your local Area Agency on Aging to make a vaccine appointment. You can also register individuals for the vaccine by visiting Missouri’s COVID-19 website, MOStopsCovid.com. COVID-19 Hotline hours of operation are Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m.-2 p.m. (Hotline is open on Saturdays through until June 11.) Individuals are encouraged to call soon to ensure their names are added to the list.

DHSS will cease recoupment of excess Abbott BinaxNOW cards effective Friday, June 11 – meaning any recoupment requests must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, June 11 in order to be sent a mailing label. As before, we will only accept unopened boxes and box lots that have at least 30 days or more to expiration, please refer to the most recent extension expiry letter from Abbott. After that date, the recoupment form will be removed from the DHSS website.

If your facility has an excess of Abbott BinaxNow Cards, which you are unable to use prior to them expiring, please provide your information on the recoupment form link: https://mophep.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/1913bb3c639843c49b74350a4652d750.

SEMA will send you UPS shipping labels and the tests will be sent to the state warehouse for redistribution- so they do not expire before they can be used.

Please note the following:

• Unless you have specifically ordered the tests from DHSS via an online ordering portal- the tests you are returning were from FEDERAL.
• SEMA is unable to accept tests that are 30 days or less until expiration date (this can be within the new expiry date). With less than 30 days, they are unable to recoup and redistribute those tests to another user in a timeframe that allows the new user time to incorporate into their testing regimen.
• Abbott’s guidance for unused kits is that all components of this kit should be discarded as Biohazard waste.

CANCELLING DIRECT SHIPMENTS

• If there are facilities in your state receiving direct allocations of Abbott Binax NOW that would like to cancel those allocations, please submit the cancellation request to ARDxUSGovernmentSupport@abbott.com. Note: this is a cancellation not a pause. Pausing allocations is not an option. Once received allocations can be transferred to other facilities within the state.

The CDC and FDA lifted the pause on the Janssen/J&J vaccine, and use of the vaccine will resume in Missouri. Please follow the links below to updated information for Missouri.

• Standing order: https://health.mo.gov/living/healthcondiseases/communicable/novel-coronavirus/pdf/so-janssen-vaccine.pdf
• DHSS news release: https://health.mo.gov/news/newsitem/uuid/c949a216-1f7c-4db2-996f-16183ff93971/missouri-vaccinators-to-resume-use-of-j-j-vaccine
• Janssen/J&J vaccinator resources: https://covidvaccine.mo.gov/vaccinators/janssen/
• Janssen/J&J FAQs: https://covidvaccine.mo.gov/facts/#j&j-pause

Deadline Extended to June 30, 2021

All LTC facilities (SNF-ICF-RCF-ALF) may submit for reimbursement of outbreak testing through March 31, 2021.

All Skilled Nursing Facilities may invoice for other necessary COVID-19 expenditures up to a maximum cap of $345 per licensed bed. The previous cap of $303, which originally expired on December 30, 2020, has been extended to June 30, 2021 and the cap increased to $345 which is a $42 per licensed bed increase. Facilities cannot bill for expenses that have been previously invoiced.

All other facilities may submit invoices for other necessary COVID-019 expenses up to the previous existing cap of $330/licensed bed, which originally expired on December 1, 2020 and has been extended to June 30, 2021. Facilities cannot bill for expenses that have been previously invoiced.

If any facility previously submitted for reimbursement and did not get reimbursed up to the cap, they can submit for additional reimbursement up to the cap. If you have previously submitted invoices for reimbursement that meets or exceeds the cap, please do not resubmit those items. They are being re-reviewed at this time.

Please see this link for the portal and other additional information: https://apps.dss.mo.gov/LongTermCareCovid19Invoices/.