President Biden included a nursing home initiative in the State of the Union Address last night. Here is the full White House Statement about the content of the State of the Union Address.  (It’s about halfway into the statement, under the title, “Protect Seniors and other nursing home residents by cracking down on unsafe nursing homes.”)

The three primary components of the initiative are:

  • Staffing – CMS will conduct a year-long study on staffing ratios in nursing homes, which, CMS officials acknowledge, are not just a number; there are other important considerations. They expect to issue a proposed regulation (with a comment period) after that.
  • Special Focus Facilities and increased funding for state survey agencies to identify “substandard” performing nursing homes.
  • Ownership Transparency (with a focus on private equity)

Here is Katie Smith Sloan’s statement on the President’s “FACT SHEET” on “Protecting Seniors and People with Disabilities by Improving Safety and Quality of Care in the Nation’s Nursing Homes

CMS has invited LeadingAge and other stakeholder organizations, to work with them in the implementation of the work. Members are invited to work with LeadingAge to develop the LeadingAge response and to submit their own input to CMS. Send your comments/ideas/questions to Katie at ksloan@leadingage.org and Ruth Katz at rkatz@leadingage.org.  Please cc Rachel@leadingagekansas.org or Debra@leadingagekansas.org.

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Rachel Monger, JD, LACHA is President/CEO. Rachel joined LeadingAge Kansas in 2011 as the Director of Government Affairs and has been a powerful voice for our membership ever since. Rachel is a Kansas licensed attorney and adult care home administrator. She received her bachelor’s degree from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Kansas School of Law. Over the years, Rachel has served in many volunteer roles in her community and in the state of Kansas to support senior needs, aging services education, and community mental health services. She is also a member of the Board of Governors for the Kansas Health Care Stabilization Fund. As an award-winning trial lawyer, turned award-winning senior care advocate, she has spent nearly two decades passionately supporting quality of care and quality of life for Kansas seniors. When not at work, Rachel loves reading, crafting, volunteering with her church, and spending time with her partner Steven. You can reach Rachel directly at 785.670.8046.