Today, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, and Reps. A. Donald McEachin (D-VA), Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), and Elaine Luria (D-VA) sent a letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requesting federal support for assisted living facilities (ALFs) who have been hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We must rally around assisted living facilities like the country is now doing for nursing homes – and in the same way the public health sector has around hospitals,” wrote the Members. “With a vulnerable population much like nursing homes, assisted living communities will not be able to overcome this unprecedented health crisis and protect our residents and caregivers without adequate funding and resources.”
ALFs serve a highly vulnerable population and are incurring additional COVID-related expenses. But, unlike nursing homes, ALFs have not received CARES Act funding. In their letter, the Members requested that:
HHS provide ALFs with $5 billion in emergency relief for staffing, testing, and PPE from CARES Act provider fund.
HHS provide guidance to State governments to expand priority testing and funding to ALFs.
FEMA sends shipments of PPE to ALFs, as they did for nursing homes.
Full text of the letter follows, and is available here.
Dear Secretary Azar and Administrator Gaynor:
As we continue our work responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, I write to request immediate assistance for assisted living facilities. Residents and employees of assisted living facilities are on the frontlines of this pandemic and additional funding and support is necessary to protect them from COVID-19 outbreaks.
There are more than 42,000 assisted living facilities in the U.S., serving more than one million people. Assisted living provides a combination of housing, personal care services, social enrichment, and health care, primarily to older adults who need some assistance while promoting maximum independence. Although assisted living facilities are not medical facilities, there are health care components such as, assistance with daily activities, medication administration, and coordinating with health care providers.
0.6 percent of the U.S. population lives in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, but 42 percent of all deaths from COVID-19 have occurred among residents of these facilities. While much attention has focused on the outbreaks in nursing homes, there has also been an alarming number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in assisted living facilities reported. In Virginia, there are 25 assisted living facilities with outbreaks in progress. Like residents of nursing homes, residents of assisted living facilities are among those most vulnerable to COVID-19, as more than half are above the age of 85, and many are living with underlying health conditions.
Those who work in assisted living communities are on the frontlines, potentially risking their health and lives, each day preventing and containing the spread of this deadly virus. Assisted living operators are dealing with workforce shortages due to sick employees and employees who must remain in isolation out of caution. They are also facing additional expenses from providing their employees with overtime and other incentive pay because of additional hours and demands.
Assisted living operators are dedicating significant resources to COVID-19 measures such as restricting communal dining, requiring additional dietary staff to administer meals in residents’ rooms; securing critically needed and premium-priced PPE supplies; testing and diagnosing COVID-19 cases; quarantining COVID-19 positive or suspected positive residents; offering enhanced, one-on-one activities and telehealth capabilities during visitor and group activities restrictions; enhanced and more frequent cleaning and disinfecting of the entire facility to help ensure the virus is contained or eliminated; and accepting COVID-19 positive residents discharged from hospitals per state requests.
Given the gravity of the situation we are facing with this deadly virus and its impact on our vulnerable community, long term care facilities, including assisted living communities, require federal funding to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19. As such, I urge you to allocate $5 billion in emergency relief funding for assisted living facilities from the CARES Act Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund. I also request that HHS provide guidance to state governments on expanding priority testing and funding to assisted living communities. It is common for individuals with COVID-19 to be asymptomatic, so it will be critical to require testing for these facilities to contain the virus, as is required of nursing homes. However, assisted living providers require the necessary guidance and federal funding to regularly test residents, caregivers and potential visitors with expedited test results. Emergency funding will be even more crucial as these facilities begin to re-open.
Finally, I request that FEMA send two shipments of seven-day supplies of PPE to assisted living facilities, as was announced for nursing homes. In 16 states, including Virginia, assisted living facility staff are required to use PPE in facilities and 27 states recommend that staff use PPE, yet 75 percent of assisted living providers have been unable to find sufficient PPE according to the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living.
The price of inaction would be devastating – to our residents, to their loved ones, and to those who work in assisted living facilities who see their residents as family members. These caregivers on the frontlines have shown unparalleled commitment to those they serve in the face of adversity, and at great personal risk to their own health and their families.
We must rally around assisted living facilities like the country is now doing for nursing homes – and in the same way the public health sector has around hospitals. With a vulnerable population much like nursing homes, assisted living communities will not be able to overcome this unprecedented health crisis and protect our residents and caregivers without adequate funding and resources.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
