Ep 4: Setting the Record Straight on the White House’s Nursing Home Reform Package

April 25, 2022

 

Guest Spotlight:
Mark Parkinson, President and CEO, The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living

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In this episode, we’ll hear from Mark Parkinson firsthand on his specific request to have Congress take additional steps to ensure the safety and protection of America’s most vulnerable. You will walk away with a better understanding of how these measures would help invest in the frontline caregivers our nation’s seniors need, so they continue to have access to high quality, long-term care.

• The quality of nursing home care was increasing over the past decade, specifically thanks to initiatives where federal regulators and providers were working together.
• ​The rhetoric surrounding last week’s White House announcement was disappointing and demoralizing to an already beaten down health care sector.
• During the COVID pandemic, nursing homes were not prioritized by public health officials for resources and the lack of a coordinated, federal response enabled high spread in the general population that ultimately lead to nursing home outbreaks.
• President Biden’s plan does not address the chronic underfunding of Medicaid or offer meaningful supports to help nursing home providers meet increasing requirements. Until policymakers properly invest in long-term care, nursing homes will continue to struggle, and more facilities will have to close their doors – limiting access to care for potentially millions of elderly Americans.

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