NCAL Annual Regulatory Analysis
Trends Continue as States Respond to Higher Resident Acuity,
Care Needs for Residents with Alzheimer’s
Contact:
Lisa Gelhaus, AHCA/NCAL, (202) 898-2825
For Immediate Release
March 16, 2007
Washington, DC – The National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) has published the 2007 edition of its annual Assisted Living State Regulatory Review. The 210-page report summarizes assisted living regulations across 21 categories in the 50 states and District of Columbia and is available free of charge. The report also includes phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and Web site information for state agencies that oversee assisted living regulation.
NCAL produces Regulatory Review annually as a service to its members, policymakers, and the public. It is widely used by assisted living professionals, policymakers, researchers, aging organizations, and consumers, and is the only summary of state assisted living rules that is updated annually.
“In the last year, states continued making regulatory changes in response to increasing levels of resident acuity and needs for health services,” said NCAL Senior Policy Director Karl Polzer who prepared the report. “New Hampshire and Missouri created new licensure categories in part to accommodate higher resident acuity levels. Several states added requirements relating to fire safety, incident reporting, emergency preparedness, disease control, and other resident safety issues.”
The report indicates that the trend toward creating enhanced standards for the care of residents with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias also continued. Many states added staffing training requirements, staffing requirements, and other standards to ensure appropriate care for people with Alzheimer’s. Massachusetts created a new “Special Care Residence” certification category that includes care for people with dementia. Florida began requiring facilities to monitor and manage residents that wander and are at risk for elopement.
This year’s edition of Regulatory Review features a new section entitled “Life Safety,” which summarizes state fire safety standards. “We thought it was important to add this feature because of the increased attention being paid to life safety by policymakers, the National Fire Protection Association, and assisted living providers, themselves,” Polzer said. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, states have focused more on emergency preparedness, as well. Three states (Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia) added requirements for at least some facilities to have emergency power generators during the year.
In 2006, about one third of states changed their assisted living regulations with about seven states making major regulatory changes. Three states (California, Ohio, and Utah) started Medicaid waiver programs covering assisted living services. Now, only a handful of states do not provide Medicaid coverage for assisted living.
According to the NCAL report, several states initiated or added to facility disclosure and information requirements. Other areas of regulatory change in 2006 include medication management, general staff training requirements, and resident rights.
The American Health Care Association and the National Center For Assisted Living are the nation's leading long term care organizations. AHCA/NCAL and their membership are committed to performance excellence and Quality First, a covenant for healthy, affordable and ethical long term care. AHCA/NCAL represent nearly 11,000 non-profit and proprietary facilities dedicated to continuous improvement in the delivery of professional and compassionate care provided daily by millions of caring employees to more than 1.5 million of our nation's frail, elderly and disabled citizens who live in nursing facilities, assisted living residences, subacute centers and homes for persons with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.