Senior living and care industry representatives are speaking out against racial inequity in response to rising protests across the country following the death of George Floyd and data on COVID-19 cases in long-term care disproportionately affecting minority residents.
A new report highlights the role the federal government plays in building and preserving affordable rental homes in a time when millions of Americans — including seniors — are facing housing instability during the coronavirus pandemic.
Congress should fund the cost of COVID-19 testing for all staff members, including repeat testing, in assisted living communities, life plan communities and affordable seniors housing communities and other congregate settings where it is required, such as nursing homes, LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan said in a letter to Republican and Democrat leaders in the Senate and House.
Robyn Stone, DrPH, brings four decades’ worth of experience to LeadingAge as a top expert and researcher in aging and long-term care policy.
Nobody in long-term care is begrudging skilled nursing facilities for the $4.9 billion that began flowing to providers on Friday to fight effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but associations are asking federal and state governments not to forget senior living operators.
Almost one-third (30%) of senior living companies that are members of Argentum or the American Seniors Housing Association still face challenges in securing adequate personal protective equipment in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the organizations told the Senate Special Committee on Aging in a statement submitted for the record of the committee’s May 21 hearing, titled “Caring for Seniors Amid the COVID-19 Crisis.” AHCA / NCAL also submitted comments.
Two associations representing long-term care providers on Monday called for more funding for COVID-19 testing for assisted living communities as well as skilled nursing facilities after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a plan for the relaxing of the restrictions put in place in the nation’s nursing homes due to the pandemic.
Although it remains to be seen whether the HEROES Act reaches the president’s desk, five provisions of the original or House-passed bill have a chance of becoming law, according to one source. Read other coronavirus-related news, too.
Assisted living communities’ and nursing homes’ difficulty in securing personal protective equipment and testing to prevent or contain the spread of COVID-19, despite the fact that older adults are at higher risk for serious complications related to the disease, speaks to a deeper societal issue in the United States, leaders of national and state industry associations said Thursday.
Confusion over whether not-for-profit affordable seniors housing providers are eligible for loans through the federal Paycheck Protection Program has providers in danger of either being penalized if they accepted funds inappropriately or of missing out on funds if they don’t apply because they believe they aren’t eligible. Today is the deadline for all PPP borrowers to return funds without penalty if they received funds for which they are not eligible.
