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.
Argentum's advocacy centers around assisted living as the most cost-effective option—saving Medicaid $43.4 billion per year by keeping seniors out of far costlier skilled nursing facilities, and a 2021 report by the Department of Veterans Affairs found that assisted living could save the VA $69,101 per veteran each year and helping more veterans access LTC.
We urge policymakers to increase access to assisted living, including through programs like the recently passed Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, which includes pilot program to allow eligible veterans to choose assisted living instead of nursing home care for their long-term care benefit. That legislation was passed by both the House and Senate and is awaiting President Biden's signature to become law.
