At noon today, Donald Trump will take the oath of office for his second term as President. The incoming administration is expected to focus its initial attention at immigration and border security, the economy (including renewal of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and imposing tariffs), and rolling back Biden-era regulations, with a slew of executive orders anticipated this week. In advance of his inauguration, Argentum sent the incoming president a letter today outlining our priorities.

The California Assisted Living Association (CALA) is supporting senior living providers and their residents regarding fires affecting Los Angeles and surrounding areas and is in regular communication with the California Department of Social Services about emergency response.

Providers are keeping the Department of Social Services informed on their specific evacuation status. Please communicate any needs you have to CALA directly. Argentum will remain in communication with CALA and ready to assist if needed.

Argentum capped off a productive 2024 in advocacy with the enactment of the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act. That legislation, signed into law by President Biden on January 2, 2025, will establish a pilot program to allow veterans to choose assisted living for their long-term care needs.

That's not all! Over the past year, Argentum led a nationwide campaign to counter misleading reporting and thwarted a related Congressional effort against the senior living industry, protected against onerous federal regulation, and advanced meaningful legislation to promote the value of assisted living, increase access and affordability, and expand workforce development programs.

For its efforts, Argentum's advocacy once again earned national recognition, being named for the fourth consecutive year as one of The Hill newspaper's top lobbyists of 2024.

Yesterday, President Biden signed into law the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, which includes an Argentum-backed measure to expand access of assisted living for veterans.

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: