Argentum is claiming a partial win in its campaign to differentiate assisted living from other long-term care settings in the wake of updated COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The most important part of the new guidance is that it distinguishes assisted living from the rest of the long-term care sector and the healthcare sector,” Argentum Vice President of Quality Improvement John Schulte said during an Argentum Advocates membership call on Wednesday. “They put us in a position to be able to manage outbreaks of COVID or other infectious diseases with local health departments.”
Schulte said that workforce groups that educated policymakers and pushed for better guidance for senior living providers were successful in shedding light on the sector and its setting as residents’ homes.
The big challenge now, Schulte said, is whether states and other jurisdictional entities will continue to take the CDC’s lead and start removing restrictions on assisted living.
“Frankly, I think this is going to take some time for this new guidance to be reflected in state and local protocols,” he said. He emphasized, however, that the updated guidance gives assisted living a stronger position to make its case for differentiating its providers from the rest of the long-term care continuum.
Providers also will take some time to decide what protocols to leave in place, including masking and vaccine mandates, he said.
Workforce development
Argentum continues to work toward getting assisted living included in federal workforce initiatives.
Public Policy Manager Kyle Loeber said that the association also is seeing major progress on the workforce front, in terms of “pulling back some of those layers” to find out how the federal government can support the needs of assisted living and other senior living providers.
Loeber said the fact that the sector can “nearly guarantee a job” to anyone who comes through any federal program because of the needs in senior living communities is attractive to the Department of Labor and regional partners.
“There are so many opportunities and career pathways for individuals,” he noted. He added that although many job training programs exist, geriatric care and senior caregiving opportunities are lacking.
Specifically, Argentum recommends that the Labor Department double its Closing the Skills Gap grant program funding to $200 million due to its proven success as well as officially add assisted living to the definition of “home” in home- and community-based services reports. The trade association also advocates for including language in reports calling on the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration and the Labor Department to address senior living workforce challenges.
Federal funding updates
In other news, Argentum Vice President of Government Relations Paul Williams provided updates on Provider Relief Funds and American Rescue Plan Act funding.
HRSA previously indicated that it is down to a “handful” of Phase 4 Provider Relief Fund payment determinations and Phase 3 reconsiderations. Those determinations will be finalized within days, Williams said he believes.
Argentum also will be releasing the third iteration of a toolkit related to American Rescue Plan Act funding.
Some states, Williams said, are still sitting on a “significant” amount of ARPA dollars for COVID-19 relief. The association is encouraging states to funnel those ARPA dollars to providers to enhance training to address workforce shortages.
