President Joe Biden signed into law H.R. 10545, the American Relief Act on Saturday, hours after the Senate voted 85-11 and the House voted 366-34 to pass the legislation. The package funds the government through March 14, 2025 and includes $100 billion in disaster relief for areas impacted by natural disasters, of which Argentum advocated for senior living communities to be eligible for assistance.

The package is a pared-down version of a bipartisan agreement (H.R. 10455) that was negotiated over several weeks, but was ultimately withdrawn last Thursday amid public pressure by President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who was tasked by Trump to co-lead a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Trump instead pushed for a different version (H.R. 10515) that the House quickly voted down 174-235.

The package that was signed into law includes short-term extensions of two key health care programs: Medicare hospital-at-home and telehealth flexibilities, which were both due to expire at the end of the year, but will now extend through March 31, 2025. This is a significantly shorter extension than was in the original package that would have extended telehealth flexibilities for two years and hospital-at-home for five years.

Merrill Gardens President Tana Gall and NIC Map Vision CEO Arick Morton appeared in an episode of BloombergTV's Wall Street Week. The segment highlights the projected population explosion for Americans over age 80, and that construction of new senior housing hasn't kept pace with $275 billion of demand for new senior housing to be built.

Argentum has been promoting the need for investment in senior housing and advocating for policies to meet the care needs of our rapidly aging population. Private investment plays an important role in assisted living housing for seniors, with a June 2024 Journal of Health Affairs editorial by a team of academic researchers from Brown, Georgetown, and Johns Hopkins highlighting the importance of private investment in assisted living and how it differs from clinical health care settings.

We are thrilled to share that moments ago, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 382-12 to pass S. 141, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, which includes a measure to expand access of assisted living for veterans. The bill next goes to the White House for President Biden's signature.

Argentum strongly supports this legislation and has championed its provision to establish a pilot program to allow eligible veterans to choose assisted living instead of nursing home care for their long-term care benefit. Under Section 127 of the legislation, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is authorized to offer assisted living settings for aging and disabled veterans who would otherwise require more expensive nursing home care.

Last night, the U.S. Senate passed by unanimous consent an amended version of S. 141, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act. This version has minor differences with H.R. 8371, passed in November by a 389-9 vote in the House, and includes an Argentum-supported provision to help more veterans choose assisted living for their long-term care needs. The House is expected to take up the Senate-passed version as early as Monday afternoon, and if passed, send it to President Biden to be signed into law.

President-elect Donald Trump has announced nearly two-dozen key appointments to the incoming administration, including for roles that will have direct and indirect oversight of public policies facing senior living communities, residents, and caregivers.

The nominees are due to face confirmation hearings in Congress in the New Year; however, the president-elect has suggested bypassing the advice and consent role of Congress for his political nominees through the use of recess appointments. This would require the Senate to vote for a recess, instead of their more typical “pro forma” legislative sessions as they have largely done since 2014 when the Supreme Court ruled that the Senate must be out of session for 10 days for a president to make recess appointments.

The president does have limited powers to force a Congressional recess that could allow for recess appointments without the Senate's approval; those appointments would last through the remainder of the Congressional session (December 2026). The incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) indicated he would be open to recess appointments for more controversial nominees.

Key nominees include:

Thank you to everyone who has helped advance our advocacy fundraising efforts this year as together we’ve raised nearly $1.5 million in personal PAC and corporate Advocacy Fund contributions.

We especially thank everyone who participated in this year’s Granger Cobb Cup Competition for Excellence in Political Action. The Cobb Cup is a critical fundraising program for Argentum’s political action committee, Silver PAC, which allows us to have a voice on Capitol Hill and to support lawmakers who champion public policy and advocacy initiatives on behalf of the senior living industry and the people we proudly serve. We're pleased to share that with your support, we have raised nearly $300,000 for the PAC!

Team LCS

Team New Perspective

Team Benchmark

Silver PAC supported dozens of federal candidates this year, and allowed us to host an event in Washington, D.C. in September attended by nearly two-dozen members of Congress. Lawmakers and senior living stakeholders were able to share ideas on tax policies to help more Americans afford senior living with HSAs, FSAs, and other tax-advantaged savings accounts, and investing in our workforce, all of which may come into play in this next year’s tax package with the upcoming expiration of parts of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. These conversations are essential to promoting the needs of senior living and helping lawmakers understand our value-proposition in the long-term care sector.

So on behalf of Silver PAC, we sincerely appreciate all companies that participated in this year’s Cobb Cup Challenge to help promote the PAC and provide us with the resources to continue making an impact on senior living public policy: Benchmark Senior Living, Commonwealth, LCS, Merrill Gardens, New Perspective, Sunrise Senior Living, and Vi, and offer our congratulations to this year’s winners:

This afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 389-9 to pass H.R. 8371, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act. The Dole Act includes Argentum-supported legislation to expand access to assisted living for Veterans.

The bill was passed under suspension of the rules, allowing it to bypass the lengthier legislative process for quick consideration on the floor. It now heads to the Senate for consideration, where it must pass before the end of the year to avoid having to begin the process anew with the next Congress.

This legislation incorporates language from the Expanding Veterans’ Options for Long Term Care Act (H.R. 1815 and S. 495), legislation that Argentum has strongly supported to allow veterans to choose assisted living for their long-term care benefit, instead of nursing home care.

Former President Donald Trump will once again take the Oval Office, after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in yesterday's presidential election. Argentum is analyzing the results and will be presenting a special post-election briefing next Wednesday, November 13 at 2:00 p.m. ET to discuss how this election will impact the senior living industry.

We look forward to working with the next Trump Administration on addressing the needs of senior living communities and advancing our policy solutions on workforce and affordability of senior living. Argentum maintained strong working relationships with the prior Trump administration on several issues, including workforce programs like the Healthcare Apprenticeship Expansion Program (HAEP), awarded in 2020 during the Trump Administration, and we also worked closely with the administration during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, raising awareness on the needs of communities and securing federal financial relief, testing kits for communities, and priority vaccine administration.

We anticipate that among the incoming administration’s priorities will include addressing immigration and border security issues, a major tax-package, housing policy, and increased promotion of home-care in long-term care, where we will be advocating that senior living communities are broadly considered home by our residents.

As we hinted before the election, a major focus will be the expiration of significant portions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA, or “Trump Tax Cuts”). Last month, Trump said he would "support a tax credit for family caregivers who take care of a parent or a loved one." Argentum will be working closely with the administration and Congress on opportunities to advance such a proposal as part of the TCJA reauthorization or another vehicle and to ensure it is broadly applicable to help support seniors and their families in choosing senior living for their care needs. Argentum will also look to advance other affordability, housing, and workforce measures as part of the tax package.

Republicans flipped control of the Senate in their favor and may maintain control of the House (numerous elections remain uncalled and control of the chamber may not be settled for several days or weeks). If Republicans are able to keep the House, they may seek to undo several Biden Administration regulatory actions by using the Congressional Review Act, a measure that allows Congress to overturn final rules issued by federal agencies by passing a joint resolution disapproving of the rule and prohibiting it from going into effect. A simple majority in both chambers is needed to send the measure to the president’s desk. Several CRAs were passed in this Congress, but were vetoed by President Biden and did not have the necessary two-thirds votes in both chambers to override the veto.

The change in administration will also bring with it a change in agency heads and administrative policy agendas. This may be particularly pronounced at the Department of Labor, with a potential shift on workforce priorities. At the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Democratically-appointed members currently hold a 3 to 1 majority, which will remain until August 2026; two nominations are currently pending in the Senate, a Republican and a Democrat. Additionally, with the change in party leadership in the Senate, the prospects have greatly diminished for passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, a longstanding wish-list of pro-labor policies, including provisions that would effectively repeal right-to-work provisions in place in more than half of the states; Argentum opposes the PRO Act with our partners in the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace.

In addition to joining next Wednesday's webinar, Argentum urges all senior living stakeholders to join us in Washington, D.C. next March 12-13 for our annual Public Policy Institute. With the change in administration and changes in Congress, this will be one of the most significant opportunities to advance our policy priorities. Registration information will be available soon.

Congressional Election Synopsis:

Voters are headed to the polls today in what is expected to be one of the highest-turnout elections in recent memory. While it may take time to determine the winners, what we do already know is that the elections will bring a new administration with a new agenda, new agency heads, and new Committee chairs in Congress.

To help make sense of it all and the impact on senior living policy, Argentum will be hosting a special post-election briefing next Wednesday, November 13 at 2:00 p.m. ET to review the results and look ahead to opportunities to advance our public policy priorities.

The biggest legislative opportunity in 2025 will be the expiration of significant portions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA, or “Trump Tax Cuts”), including opportunities to advance Argentum-led proposals on workforce programs and policies to increase affordability of long-term care. Argentum's annual Public Policy Institute, in Washington, D.C. next March 12-13, will be a critical event to promote senior living solutions for consideration in next year's legislative packages, regardless of who wins the presidency or control of Congress.

Potential expectations for various scenarios and Argentum’s opportunities:

The North Carolina Assisted Living Association (NCALA) recently hosted its 30th Annual Fall Conference in Winston-Salem. As part of the event, NCALA presented this year's winners of the Community Leadership Award and Hero Awards for individuals who represent the highest levels of excellence, caring, and dedication in senior living.

The award nominees are submitted by regional/company executives and executive directors of senior living communities from NCALA's more than 350 member communities, which collectively serve more than 15,000 seniors. The Community Leadership award is given to one executive director/administrator of a member assisted living community who is an ideal representative and role model for the thousands of executives leading senior living communities; they are responsible for providing overall leadership in the day-to-day operation of a senior living community.