Speak Out in Support of Assisted Living Residents!

More and more seniors and their families are turning to assisted living as an alternative to nursing homes when they need residential care and monitoring. Unfortunately, despite this growing need, and the billions of dollars in personal and public funds spent on assisted living care, too many assisted living residents experience abuse, neglect, exploitation, and even death every year. This is due to the absence of federal standards of care for assisted living and the fact that state standards - to the extent they exist – tend to be quite low.

It is time that our country stand up for seniors and their families, and ensure that assisted living residents are protected. Please take a moment to speak out in support of assisted living residents and help us make a difference by contacting your legislators today!

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Message from a constituent on an issue important to seniors and families.

Dear [elected official],

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I am writing to you to express my concerns about safety and dignity in assisted living and urge your office to take action to protect the vulnerable seniors and families who rely on assisted living for residential care and monitoring. Although increasing numbers of residents in assisted living need a nursing home level of care, and the majority have some level of dementia, there are currently NO federal standards for care or safety.

This lack of federal standards to ensure even basic safety in assisted living puts all residents at risk of experiencing abuse, neglect, exploitation, and even death. A 2018 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that only 22 out of 48 state agencies were able to provide ANY information about critical incidents among residents receiving Medicaid assisted living services. The GAO identified 23,000 critical incidents from these 22 states in 2014 alone. As the report indicates, this shocking figure does not even include private-pay residents, who make up the majority of assisted living residents.

On January 25, 2024, the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on assisted living, at which the serious quality concerns and the ramifications of the lack of independent public information on assisted living quality and costs were discussed.

I believe that the Senate hearing and GAO report provide clear evidence that we need to address the health, safety, and well-being of assisted living residents. Without strong and clearly-defined federal standards, residents will continue to be at risk. [For more information, I encourage you to visit https://nursinghome411.org/senate-assisted-living-2024/.]

I hope that you will join in support of both baseline assisted living safety standards and a national database with information that seniors and families need to make informed decisions about assisted living.

I  forward to hearing where you stand on this issue.

Sincerely, [Your information here]