Dear NCALA Member,
*You are encouraged to share this information with your peers and colleagues throughout the industry as you deem appropriate.*
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This is a reminder about Argentum’s antitrust compliance policy. The association places its highest priority on strict compliance with antitrust, competition, trade regulation, and similar laws and regulations. In particular, all policies and programs of Argentum avoid any suggestion of actual or implied agreements or understandings on raising, lowering, or stabilizing fees or charges; on limiting types of services or areas of operation; or on doing business, or declining to do business, with specific vendors or customers. Argentum urges all of its members to remain vigilant about antitrust compliance and to assist Argentum in its compliance endeavors.
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Argentum met with the White House yesterday as part of our ongoing “Don’t Leave Assisted Living Behind, Again” campaign. This effort is incumbent on the active participation of all senior living stakeholders. We critically need everyone’s help in on-the-ground visibility efforts by placing banners and signs at communities, which help to augment the strategically placed billboards, digital advertising, grassroots messages from residents, family members, and community staff, and media placements including an op-ed by Arizona ALFA CEO Karen Barno that appeared in Sunday’s Mesa Tribune. All of these collective efforts help to increase the visibility of the campaign, which improves the chances that lawmakers will take note and ensure that senior living is not left behind again.
These next few weeks could not be more important to the future of the industry. After passing the bipartisan infrastructure package late on Friday, the House signaled that it plans to pass its version of the Build Back Better act (reconciliation/human infrastructure) later this month, and likely by this coming week of November 15. We remain deeply disappointed that this version of the legislation still does not include senior living and is unlikely to be modified before it is considered on the House floor, but there is significant interest in the Senate to make changes to the bill and include provisions that have not been addressed in recent major pieces of legislation.
We are asking for everyone’s participation:
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Please reach out to Paul Williams (pwilliams@argentum.org) who can connect you with our ground teams on placing signage at your communities. You may use this sample letter and talking points to share with community executive directors to help them better communicate the campaign with residents, family members, and staff. We also encourage you to share pictures of these signs on social media using the hashtag #DontLeaveUsBehindAgain.
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Please continue your direct outreach to lawmakers and staff with whom you have a relationship and underscore the urgency of our asks; you may share this brief memo, which cites the specific insertions for including senior living in the BBB package.
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Please share the StandingWithSeniors.com website and ask everyone in your communities to participate in the grassroots campaign.
If there is anything we can do to help you in these efforts, please don’t hesitate to ask. The time to act is now and we are depending on each of you to take part.
Update on Vaccine Mandates:
As you likely heard, on Saturday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit temporarily blocked the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), responding to a lawsuit filed by the Attorney General of Louisiana, among others. The judges argued that it is not clear that the Department of Labor has the authority to issue the ETS and that it raises “grave statutory and constitutional issues.” Similar lawsuits against the rule argue that the ETS conflicts with the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The ETS was anticipated to be challenged throughout the courts and we now expect that the multiple suits against the ETS will be consolidated and heard by a court chosen by a lottery.
Separately, we received further clarification that assisted living facilities will not be subject to the CMS Interim Final Rule (IFR), after the agency published FAQs on Friday, including:
Q. What about Assisted Living Facilities, Group Homes, or other similar settings?
A: This regulation only applies to Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities. CMS does not have regulatory authority over care settings such as Assisted Living Facilities or Group Homes. This regulation will also not apply to physician’s offices because they are not subject to CMS health and safety regulations.
Q. Does this requirement apply to Medicaid home care services, such as Home and Community-based Services (HCBS) since these providers receive Medicaid funding but are not regulated as certified facilities?
A. No, this regulation only applies to those Medicare and Medicaid-certified provider and supplier types that are subject to CMS health and safety regulations. CMS’s health and safety regulations do not cover providers of Home and Community-based Services.
Argentum will be holding a member webinar on the vaccine mandates, along with the Healthcare ETS that was issued in June, next Tuesday, November 16 at 1:00 PM ET (register here). For more information on the IFR and Vaccine ETS, please refer to this memo prepared by Argentum’s outside counsel Foley Hoag LLP.
