Deborah Meade, chair of the American Health Care Association Board of Governors and CEO and president of Health Management, Warner Robins, GA, is a member of the 2020 McKnight’s Women of Distinction Hall of Honor.
The Department of Health and Human Services on Friday extended until Aug. 3 the deadline for eligible state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program providers, including assisted living operators, to apply for monies from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Provider Relief Fund.
Assisted living communities and nursing homes face a potential “dramatic increase” in cases of COVID-19 as states continue to reopen and personal protective equipment shortages and testing delays persist, AHCA / NCAL warned Tuesday in a letter addressed to the National Governors Association and state governors.
When it comes to COVID-19 federal aid, the seniors housing and care sector is getting shortchanged. So claims one of the nation’s largest eldercare organizations.
The federal government should extend the public health emergency declaration beyond July 26 and prioritize assisted living communities and nursing homes when a COVID-19 vaccination becomes available, American Health Care Association / National Center for Assisted Living said Monday in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar.
Now that Sens. Warren and Markey and Rep. Maloney realize what the industry has been saying to anyone who would listen for months now — that senior living operators need resources to battle COVID-19, too — it’s time for them to convince their colleagues in the Senate and House of their discovery and then put their (our, actually) money where their mouths are.
Assisted living communities would be required to report confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 to federal, state and local health officials, as well as to residents and their families — and would have one day to do it — under legislation announced by two U.S. senators and one congresswoman. The report on which the bill is based, however, “falls short” and is “misleading,” according to one association representing operators.
Eighty-seven percent of assisted living communities and nursing homes participating in a new survey said it is taking two or more days for them to obtain the results of COVID-19 tests of staff members. The majority (63%) said that, on average, it takes two to four days to obtain test results.
Congress should take “immediate steps” to get needed personal protective equipment to assisted living communities, nursing homes, home- and community-based settings and other places where older adults receive care, Dana Marie Kennedy, state director for AARP Arizona, told members of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee on Thursday. She was a hearing witness speaking on behalf of the national AARP organization.
As the senior living industry continues its battle COVID-19, industry leaders say they are thankful that a recent executive order from the president affecting immigration visas exempts healthcare workers involved in treating people with coronavirus.
