Beefed-Up Regulations May Clobber FL Assisted Living Facilities

It might be closing time for hundreds of assisted living facilities in Florida as state legislators prepare to increase regulatory oversight in response to statewide industry scandals exposed by the Miami Herald earlier this year, and a Grand Jury report criticized the state for for not doing enough to enforce existing regulations. In September, the […]

Democrats Rush to Exempt Medicare from Budget Cuts

Democrats have introduced legislation to protect Medicare from sequestration following the “Supercommittee’s” failure to agree on a deficit reduction plan, which triggered automatic cuts of 2% to nearly all government programs. H.R. 3519, introduced on Nov. 29, was sponsored by Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) and seeks to exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under […]

House, Senate Pass Section 202 Housing Reform For Low Income Seniors

This week, the House and Senate passed the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Reform Act (S. 118) that makes improvements in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program.  The legislation, with broad support of aging advocacy groups throughout the country, will help expand the […]

Senate Committee on Aging Hears Testimony on Senior Housing

CCRCs:  Risks Exists But No Federal Regulation Recommended At This Time Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) may get more oversight and regulation at a federal level in the future based upon the tone of Wednesday’s Senate Committee on Aging chaired by Herb Kohl.  The committee heard testimony at a hearing entitled, "Continuing Care Retirement Communities […]

Dodd, Murphy Call for Better Affordable Housing for Seniors, People with Disabilities

Congressman Chris Murphy testified on how to expand affordable housing options for seniors and Americans living with disabilities at a Senate Banking Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development hearing.  Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Banking Committee, joined Murphy in calling for the modernization of federal housing assistance programs to ensure they can meet […]

Senators Release GAO Report on Program For Worst Nursing Homes Nationwide

Last week Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the Special Focus Facility (SFF) Program, which monitors nursing homes that earn the worst quality ratings. The study recommends that the SFF program, administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), be […]

New Poll Shows Strong Opposition to Cutting Medicare Payments for Nursing Home Care to Finance Health Care Reform

With Congress back in session this week, federal lawmakers are getting back to work on health care reform and examining how to finance the changes.  In a recent survey by the Mellman Group, the study finds that Americans, by significant margins, strongly oppose cutting Medicare-funded nursing home care over other funding options. Underscoring the unpopularity […]

Pennsylvania Announces Senior Living Projects Receiving Approval For Stimulus Funds

The governor of Pennsylvania, Governor Rendell, and the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency recently announced the approval for funding for 99 projects that will make affordable senior housing more prevalent in the commonwealth comes from the Neighborhood Stabilization and Low Income Housing Tax programs.  Some of the senior housing and living projects approved for funding include: […]