PUBLIC POLICY
Georgia Georgia Senior Living Association (GSLA) is currently working with the Department of Community Health to revise a rule that requires a community to give 60-days’ no- tice of a rate change before implementing a change in charges or rates when a resident experiences a change in condition, despite the fact that the increased services are to be provided immediately. GSLA has also supported legislation that
increases punishment for the abuse of seniors physically, mentally, or fi nancially. They are supporting efforts by the Department of Community Health and the Department of Public Health to inspect and fi ne and/or close those providing sub-standard housing and living conditions for seniors.
Louisiana The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) is accepting public comments through August 25 on the proposed Adult Residential Care Providers (ARCP) Li- censing Standards regulation. The Loui- siana Assisted Living Association (LALA) supports the proposed amendments and has met with LDH to provide input. The proposal would provide provisions and ap-
proved sources for continuing education for ARCP administrators and direct care staff ; clarify the requirements, relative to criminal background checks, direct service worker registry checks and prohibited use of social media in order to ensure consistency with other licensing standards; and clarify that licensed capacity is based only on residents of the ARCP facility and inclusive to the nontraditional marriage/couple.
Massachusetts The Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA) released new regulations on the as- sisted living industry. EOEA solicited feed- back and hosted a hearing to discuss draft ideas and in response received testimony from more than 50 industry representatives and a number of allied legislators. Mass-ALA supported certain provisions
of the draft regulations that they felt were sensible and would contribute to the safety and aff ordability of residences, including: 1) implementing “evidence-informed” falls prevention programs in residences; 2) pre- venting the employment of any person con- victed of a felony for theft or the illegal sale of a controlled substance; and 3) providing an exemption to staffi ng requirements for
special care units during overnight shifts. However, MASS-ALA had serious con-
cerns about two provisions that would have created unnecessary new burdens and worked against eff orts to make assisted living affordable and accessible to more Massachusetts seniors. These proposed provisions were: 1) an automatic 30-day certifi cation suspension penalty for failure to fi le an incident report; and 2) a requirement that nurses train all staff even on non-clin- ical services. The certifi cation penalty was removed and the training requirement was broadened to include “any professional with relevant experience.”
Argentum Public Policy Institute and Fly-In
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH Public Policy Institute
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13TH Meetings on Capitol Hill
Join your colleagues in Washington D.C. and make your voice heard on Capitol Hill. You will engage with lawmakers, hear from policy experts, and learn how you can make a diff erence for senior living today and for the future. Visit
argentum.org/ppi
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania continues to struggle with personal care homes transitioning to the assisted living residence license, which was anticipated when the regulations were im- plemented in 2010. PALA is currently par- ticipating on the Department of Human Services workgroup that is assessing the 2,800 regulations for changes to encour- age more personal care homes to seek the assisted living license. The two main areas of concern are the fees for application and license and physical site requirements. The three provider associations are requesting waivers for several of the regulations to increase the supply of assisted living as the changes to regulations will take over two years. The interest by the department and state is the beginning of managed care in 2018; managed care organizations are interested in using assisted living providers.
Texas Texas faces big changes this year as the agen- cy that monitors senior living, the Depart- ment of Aging and Disability Services, will cease to exist as of September 1. The depart- ment will be consolidated into Texas Health and Human Services. The consolidation be- gan almost two years ago and is one part of a major revamp of the state’s health agencies. The regulatory arm of the department will be placed in the regulatory services division of Texas Health and Human Services. The Texas Health and Human Services agency is also reviewing their current process to better refl ect how ownership of senior living com- munities is held.
48 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE / ISSUE 4 2017
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