I. FOLLOWING THE NARRATIVE: A quick summary of national media trends last week.
(* indicates that LeadingAge is featured in the story.)
As Congress avoided a government shutdown by passing legislation to keep the government funded through early December, media covered the blow-by-blow of lawmakers’ negotiations, including the status of Build Back Better reconciliation legislation—which ended with House Democrats’ decision to delay their vote through later this month. Other topics of reporter interest: impact of employer vaccine mandates, which took effect in NY and other states; booster shot availability and as well as the caregiving crisis and workforce shortages in long-term care.
Reconciliation, Vaccine Mandates & Booster Shots:
- Politico: Democrats grapple with cuts to health care priorities
- Politico: Broadband dreams hit a snag
- McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Biden’s $400 billion push for LTC faces severe cuts
- Roll Call: Waters’ decades of housing work hangs in the balance in reconciliation cliffhanger
- The New York Times: Faced with vaccine mandates, most health workers are getting immunized
- The Associated Press: AP-NORC poll finds deep divide over Biden vaccine mandate
- *McKnight’s Long-Term Care News:Long-term care, other business groups find exclusion from federal vaccine mandate process ‘disappointing
- McKnight’s Senior Living: Potential home care crisis looms as New York counts down to state vaccine mandate
- CNN: New York’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers leads to suspension of hundreds of holdouts
- Newsweek: Couple Battling Breakthrough COVID Kick Out Unvaccinated Home Care Nurse
- CBS News: Nursing homes charging ahead to administer COVID-19 vaccine booster shots
- *McKnight’s Senior Living: Federal, state governments must ensure senior living access to Pfizer vaccine boosters, associations say
Caregiving Crisis & Workforce Shortages
- MarketWatch: ‘I’m taking care of everybody, and now I want somebody to take care of me’ — How the care worker crisis threatens the U.S. economy
- McKnight’s Senior Living: Survey highlights ‘urgent need’ for staffing in assisted living, skilled nursing
- McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Sick and tired of being sick and tired
- The Washington Post: New York governor declares ‘disaster emergency’ amid staffing shortage crisis prompted by vaccine resisters
- McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: We need staff… NOW
- NPR: There’s A Shortage Of Home Health Aides For The Elderly, And It’s Getting Worse
- NPR: New York May Use The National Guard To Replace Unvaccinated Health Care Workers
- *McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Can two industries fighting for workers unite in the caregiving crisis?
- Skilled Nursing News: Federal Legislation to Funnel Displaced Workers Toward Nursing Home Industry
- Cal Matters: The need to solve California’s caregiver shortage
II. Other Clips that Influenced the Week: LeadingAge is a sought-out, reliable source for multiple trade and national media outlets (see that coverage posted in our LeadingAge Press Room). Other key clips that shaped the narrative last week:
- *McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Long-term care’s problems are bad and getting worse — but fixable
- The New York Times: The Delta variant caused a spike in deaths among nursing home residents, study finds
- TIME: Congressional Democrats’ Infighting Is Jeopardizing a Historic Expansion of Housing Access
- NBC News: U.S. scrutinizes nursing home evacuation rules after Hurricane Ida death
- Home Health Care News: ‘We’ve Got to Have Set Standards’: Increased Standardization Likely Coming to Home Care
- Intelligencer: The Public Continues to Underestimate COVID’s Age Discrimination
- Home Health Care News: Seniors’ Desire to Age in Place Remains Overwhelmingly Popular
III. What’s On Our Radar — this week’s likely priorities:
- Reconciliation discussions
- Impact of vaccine mandates on staff
IV. National Statements & Products (all posted on the Press Room page):
