“Assisted Living Facilities Pressed to Address Growing Needs of Older, Sicker Residents”

“Assisted Living Facilities Pressed to Address Growing Needs of Older, Sicker Residents,” by Judith Graham, Kaiser Health News

Quote:

“Assisted living communities too often fail to meet the needs of older adults and should focus more on residents’ medical and mental health concerns, according to a recent report by a diverse panel of experts. It’s a clarion call for change inspired by the altered profile of the population that assisted living now serves. Residents are older, sicker, and more compromised by impairments than in the past: 55% are 85 and older, 77% require help with bathing, 69% with walking, and 49% with toileting, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics.”

 

LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:

The bottom line here is that increased assisted living coverage by Medicaid, now 16%, is ruining ALFs in the same way and for the same reason (inadequate reimbursement) it hurt nursing homes.