October 22nd, 2008

After proposed regulations for assisted living facilities were met with dissatisfaction from several senior citizen advocacy groups, the state has decided to delay implementing the new rules, and might even revise them. 

Reports the Patriot-News:

Assisted living generally describes a setting that offers a higher level of care than is found in personal care homes, but less than is provided in nursing homes.

Pennsylvania has no specific license for assisted-living facilities. AARP has long stressed that the absence of such a license means people have no guarantee of what they’re getting when they move into assisted living.

The state regulates assisted-living facilities as if they were personal care homes.

Advocates for seniors and the assisted-living industry have battled for years over regulations.

For more details on the delay, visit the Patriot.   For more background on this issue, read an older posts by HealthPoint; here, here, and here.  And for comments by two groups that support a revisement of the regulations, visit the Pennsylvania Health Care Association and PANPHA, the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Senior Services, which issued the following press releases:

Text of Oct. 21 press release.

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Health Care Association and the Center for Assisted Living Management today commended the Department of Public Welfare and the Office of Long-Term Living for delaying submission of the final proposed living regulations so that policymakers have more time to consider the many concerns raised by consumers, providers, legislators and the Independent Regulatory Review Commission regarding the proposed regulations.

“We recognize and appreciate the enormous task involved in creating a vibrant assisted living marketplace for Pennsylvania’s elderly and disabled residents. It was the right decision for DPW to slow the regulatory process so that Pennsylvania can get this right,” said Dr. Stuart Shapiro, president and CEO of PHCA/CALM.

Act 56 of 2007 created assisted living as a new category of care and charged the state Department of Public Welfare to establish licensing standards.

With seniors today remaining healthier, living longer and desiring housing alternatives as they age, assisted living is an important and much-needed addition to the state’s long-term care continuum, Dr. Shapiro said. But the regulations proposed by the DPW last summer included financial, medical and liability requirements that would hinder growth of a vibrant assisted living sector.

“Pennsylvania made the right choice when it passed legislation introducing assisted living to the list of long-term care options. Now, we just need to make sure we develop regulations that empower older and disabled consumers and help this vital new health service sector take root and thrive,” Dr. Shapiro said.

PHCA is a statewide advocacy organization for Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable older residents and their providers of care. Members comprise for-profit, nonprofit and government providers. PHCA, along with its sister agency, the Center for Assisted Living Management, represents more than 326 long-term care and senior service providers that care for almost 38,000 elderly and disabled individuals.

For more information about PHCA, call 717-221-1800 or visit www.phca.org.

Text of Oct. 21 press release.

DPW delays implementation of Assisted Living Regulations until 2009

Harrisburg, Pa. (Oct. 21, 2008) — PANPHA President and CEO Ron Barth today applauded the state Department of Public Welfare for delaying the implementation of Pennsylvania’s new Assisted Living regulations until 2009.

“Today the state made the right decision, and we applaud them for doing so,” Barth said. “In the coming weeks thoughtful consideration must be given to how Assisted Living should be provided and just as importantly funded. Some fundamental questions on how these regulations will be funded have yet to be answered.

“The state has never done a study on what these regulations will cost consumers. Based on our review, we expect that residents in Assisted Living will pay $4,000 to $7,000 per month for the services required in the proposed rules. We hope the state will now use this time to do such a study because few Pennsylvania families can afford such a bill.

“Without an affordable system, older Pennsylvanians will undoubtedly be left vulnerable due either to lack of access or continued reliance on care that doesn’t meet their changing needs. We cannot ignore that, as one of the nation’s demographically oldest states, especially for those 85 and older the number of Pennsylvanians who need services like Assisted Living will increase dramatically.”

Contact: David La Torre, 717-608-6337