Congress returns to Washington, D.C. today from its annual August recess, and lawmakers will have a three-week legislative sprint before heading back to the campaign trail ahead of the November elections, now just eight weeks away.

In what has been one of the “strangest” political years ever, it is not out of the question that the White House, House, and Senate could each flip control, with a half dozen states and their electoral college votes rated as toss-ups in the presidential race, and dozens of seats in contention in an already narrowly-divided Congress.

What does this all mean for senior living? To help make sense of the state of the elections and the significant impacts they could have on public policy issues, including Argentum's priorities of increasing access and affordability and addressing our workforce needs, Argentum recently hosted a webinar with special guest Christian Morgan, managing principal of Husch Blackwell Strategies.

On August 28, the California Assisted Living Association (CALA) hosted its first ever "Federal Day in Your District" where CALA members met with Congressional Representatives in their district offices to cultivate relationships, help shape discussions at the federal level, and share the voice of Assisted Living. Notably, Rep. Julia Brownley joined the 21st Century Long Term Care Caucus just a few hours after her teams’ Federal Day in Your District meeting.

PICTURED: Dana Stansel, Atria Rocklin; U.S. Representative Kevin Kiley; Cheryl Martin, Prairie City Landing in Folsom; Cynthia Bazin, Prairie City Landing in Folsom; James Dial, Oakmont of Roseville.

PICTURED: CALA members with U.S. Representative Mike Thompson.

30 CALA members met with the following Representatives and their staff:

Laura Landwirth, President & CEO of LeadingAge Colorado has retired after serving Colorado senior living and long term care providers for over 24 years. She will be succeeded by a familiar and accomplished leader in Deborah Lively who has served most recently as LeadingAge Colorado’s Director of Public Policy & Public Affairs. Argentum's Board of Directors, members and staff wish Laura all the best in retirement and congratulate Deborah in her new role as President & CEO of LeadingAge Colorado.

To learn more about some Laura’s fascinating career with LeadingAge Colorado and senior living please read below:

Everyday, prospective residents and their families tour senior living communities as they decide where they next want to call home. But it's not just prospective residents who need to see our communities. We also need lawmakers—those who are best positioned to advocate for senior living policies—to see our communities so they understand how we differ from other long-term care settings and how they can best support our policy priorities like addressing our workforce needs and making our communities more affordable.

The good news is that with Congress now out on its August recess, it is a perfect time to get on lawmakers schedules, offer them a tour, and show them what we do!

Recently, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), who serves as Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, visited the Hickman Friends Senior Community of West Chester to meet with residents and staff and learn about their daily lives. As Senator Casey considers legislation to address our long-term care challenges, this tour helps to put a face on what we do every day in our communities so policies can be most impactful.

Now it's your turn.

Please download our toolkit which contains a step-by-step guide on how to host lawmakers. Want to hear from those who have already executed events? Watch this testimonial from Tana Gall, President of Merrill Gardens, and Michael Queene, General Manager of The Pines of Newmarket, as they shared their experiences in meeting with and hosting lawmakers for visits at senior living communities.

Congress is on recess until September 9. Will you make a pledge to host lawmakers for a tour and tell your story of senior living?

Argentum has been closely monitoring Hurricane Debby, after it made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida and as it tracks across Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and potentially other areas along the Atlantic coast.

Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone impacted by the storm, including senior living residents and staff. We have been in contact with our State Partners who will be available to help navigate any issues or relay information to the respective state emergency departments.
 
We also ask that anyone impacted by the storm to provide Paul Williams (pwilliams@argentum.org) with a general update on how your residents and communities are doing relative to Hurricane/Tropical Storm Debby as well as any assistance that you need.

The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted 20-1 to advance S. 4776, the Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2024, to extend the law, which expires on September 30, for another five years. The legislation includes Argentum-supported provisions to address workforce shortages and expand multigenerational care models that will aid senior living communities, residents, families, and caregivers.

Last Thursday, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced S. 4804, the Health Over Wealth Act, a bill to place new requirements on private investment in the health care industry. A House companion bill, H.R. 9156, was introduced by U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).

After months of sustained advocacy efforts in which Argentum called for assisted living to be exempted from any private equity legislation, the final version of the legislation as it was introduced does not include assisted living in the primary definition of covered health care entities subject to the bill's requirements.

This is significant because, while the legislation has little chance of passage in the closing weeks of the 118th Congress, it was critical that assisted living be exempted from the definition in the event that provisions of the bill are added to other legislation in this Congress or, as is likely, it is reintroduced in the next Congress.

Argentum worked directly with Senator Markey's office and key members of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee since the discussion draft was first released in April. In addition, Argentum along with its State Partner, the Massachusetts Assisted Living Association, held meetings with Senator Markey’s office to discuss why assisted living did not belong with other entities that were initially included in the legislation, as well as the positive impact private finance has on the senior living sector that has yielded quality care and high resident satisfaction.

Argentum Advocates Monthly Policy Briefing Join us this Wednesday, July 31 at 2:00 p.m. ET for the Argentum Advocates monthly policy briefing, which will provide important details about the Health Over Wealth Act and our efforts to exclude assisted living from the legislation. Argentum Advocates are invited to these exclusive sessions to hear directly from Argentum’s federal lobbyists on our current federal and state public policy efforts. Register now.

Last week, Tana Gall, President of Merrill Gardens, and Michael Queene, General Manager of The Pines of Newmarket, shared their experiences in meeting with and hosting lawmakers for visits at senior living communities, relaying how important it is for lawmakers to see how senior living cares for its residents and how they can help support senior living through public policy (recording available, appx. 40 minutes).

Now it's your turn.

We know that one of the most effective ways to tell the story of senior living—and to help advance public policies to support senior and caregivers—is by hosting lawmakers in a community.

Telling our story about the value of assisted living, the impact on the lives of the seniors you serve and their families, is an opportunity to put a “face” to the senior living industry. These visits allow policymakers to hear directly from you, your employees and your residents, so they can better understand the challenges you face and see, firsthand, why strengthening the senior living model is so important to our nation’s aging population.

To help more senior living communities join in our grassroots advocacy efforts to educate and inform lawmakers on the value of senior living and our policy solutions, Argentum prepared a toolkit on hosting lawmakers for community visits.

The Community Visits with Lawmakers Toolkit provides you with the tools you need to set up effective conversations with legislators at one of your communities.

It includes sample invitations you can send to lawmakers, a sample itinerary or tour structure, best practices for preparing for your visit, how to make your request for support of legislation and continue your conversation after the event concludes, and information on how to get started and work with Argentum and your State Partners in setting up these events.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a major ruling today, effectively overturning the legal precedent of “Chevron Deference” established in the 1984 decision Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which provides for courts to defer to agencies to interpret ambiguous statutes in their rulemaking. The 6-3 decision issued today in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo states that courts may not defer to an agency interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous.

The ruling does not apply retroactively to previous cases that the Court has decided based on Chevron Deference. However, it is possible that with today’s ruling the Court may consider other cases involving agency interpretation of ambiguous laws, and therefore today's decision may have significant and long-lasting impacts to all federal rulemaking moving forward.

The ruling applies only to federal agencies, and does not overturn Chevron Deference policies that have been adopted by some states, but it could bring additional momentum for states to challenge these deferential policies. While some states have adopted a Chevron Deference framework for state regulators to interpret ambiguous statutes, other states do not have this policy, and several states have begun eroding deference to regulators through state statutes, court opinions, and state constitutional amendment. Additionally, several states filed amicus briefs in support of the plaintiff in today's Supreme Court case.

Argentum will be closely following the impact of today's ruling on recent federal rulemaking, including several rules issued this Spring by the Biden Administration with direct or indirect impacts on senior living communities:

Legislation was recently introduced that includes assisted living communities among entities subject to criminal, civil, and financial sanctions in an effort to address alleged private equity and corporate abuse in health care. The bill is in addition to anticipated legislation that could limit private equity’s ability to finance assisted living development.

Argentum has expressed significant concerns about these measures, which have been echoed by researchers from Brown University, Georgetown University, and Johns Hopkins University who published an editorial in the Journal of Health Affairs, cautioning against regulating private equity in assisted living.

Tomorrow, Argentum will share important updates on these increasing efforts to regulate investment in assisted living and how Argentum is promoting the critical role private investment plays in ensuring access to high-quality assisted living options for our nation's seniors.

Argentum Advocates Member Briefing
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
2:00 PM ET

This session will also include an important discussion on how senior living advocates can join us in our advocacy efforts by meeting with lawmakers directly, including by hosting lawmakers for community visits to meet with residents and caregivers. This session will feature insight from Tana Gall, President of Merrill Gardens and Vice President of the Argentum Board of Directors, and Michael Queene, General Manager of The Pines of Newmarket community in Southern New Hampshire.