While there is much to be pleased about in the President’s Executive Order on Caregivers, LeadingAge National staff wrote blog posts last week about the directives. In Ruth’s blog, Enough is Enough, several of the positives are noted, but we take issue with the reference to doing more related to staffing ratios in nursing homes (when the proposed rule is not even out yet). We also raise a concern about the implication that nursing homes will lose reimbursement for not complying with any new staffing mandates. The post goes on to suggest that White House fact sheets and Executive Orders should not be promoting information that supports incorrect generalizations about all nursing homes. We recommend that White House staff include specialized aging expertise to prevent this kind of communication error. Mollie’s blog, Expand Care in the Home and Community Inclusively, points out that home care and home and community based services are much broader than services provided to individuals in their own homes – they include aging services providers like adult day services and assisted living. She also addresses the need to think about caregiving beyond the Medicaid eligible population; cuts to Medicare Home Health, for instance, or an inconsistent application of hospice eligibility will not support caregivers.
