Dear members,

To follow please find a status report from Mark Parkinson, CEO, American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living, on issues impacting upon the long term care sector during the first six months of 2024.

Click the following link to read the report: A Mid-Year Update from Mark Parkinson

For our nursing home members, I want to particularly bring  your attention the important information and resources contained within the report pertaining to the enhanced facility assessment that will be required effective August 8, 2024:

“In the meantime, the facility assessment piece of the staffing rule goes into effect on August 8. The AHCA regulatory team has prepared extensive materials to help you prepare, including an action brief and a checklist, both of which can be accessed on ahcancalED. The team also developed an on-demand educational webinar, Strengthening Facility Assessments to Adapt to Regulatory Changes. I encourage you to take advantage of these valuable resources.

In addition, we achieved a major policy win with CMS. In its guidance on the facility assessment requirement, CMS agreed with our position on what surveyors should and should not be doing. They should be looking at our facility assessments to see if we have completed the required components per regulation. They should not be judging the quality of the assessment. Please let us know if you have surveyors who begin to question your judgment on the assessment.”

Thank you for supporting WHCA/WiCAL and AHCA/NCAL.  Above all, thank you and your colleagues for what you do each and every day for the most vulnerable among us.

Sincerely,

Rick Abrams
CEO