January 25, 2024 Washington, DC — Statement from Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO, LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit providers of aging services, including assisted living, on today’s Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing “Assisted Living Facilities: Understanding Long-Term Care Options for Older Adults”:
“The Committee’s focus today on critical issues in assisted living—access, quality, staffing, and financing issues—are paramount concerns of LeadingAge and our nonprofit, mission-driven members. As the country’s population grows older and other parts of the health care system are in crisis, Americans are increasingly reliant on assisted living and quality care is our top priority.
Today’s hearing, and the national news features in the New York Times and the Washington Post that preceded it, underscore the urgent need for our policymakers to address the shortcomings of our country’s current approach to financing long-term care. Older adults and families need help paying for the essential care provided in assisted living, nursing homes, and home and community-based settings.
If the lack of federal government support continues, the impact will be felt by each and every one of us. We can do better. A comprehensive and equitable long-term care financing system would make all the difference.
In addition, federal investment in the caregiving workforce is needed immediately. There is no question that quality care and staffing are closely intertwined. Assisted living providers—and others throughout the aging services sector—navigate challenges in recruiting staff, particularly frontline, direct service staff who deliver critical, lifesaving care for older and disabled adults. Among other interventions, Congress must expedite legal immigration pathways for those willing to move to the U.S. to work in long-term care. We simply need more workers.”
LeadingAge, in written testimony submitted to the Committee, offers the following recommendations to address the issues raised in today’s hearing:
- Establish and fund a clearinghouse and technical assistance center to expand knowledge about the wide variety of state approaches to regulating assisted living, evaluate their impact on quality, including consumer satisfaction, and support adoption of the most effective models by states.
- Take steps immediately to expand domestic and international pipelines to increase the pool of committed, qualified people available to deliver care to residents.
- Establish and fund a national resource center for assisted living staff training, including training in dementia care.
- Provide more federal funding through the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration on Community Living to support the development of federal and state consumer materials to help people seeking care in assisted living settings that cover: the service offering; complaints reported, resident quality ratings, and the cost of care.
- Take steps to establish a national system to finance long-term care services to ensure that the 50% of people over age 65 who will need paid long-term care before they die have options and financing to cover their care
- Congress should authorize and appropriate funds to study policy barriers to states offering Medicaid assisted living including funding and the settings rule and other existing regulations. The report should offer policy options to expand the availability and viability of Medicaid funded assisted living.
