You've heard me rant about how legislation for assisted living will increase the cost of health care and make the services more difficult for many seniors to obtain. A new law that went into effect on January 1, 2007 that legislates senior housing and service providers calling themselves "assisted living" will offer at least the following services:
Two daily meals, weekly housekeeping services, weekly laudry service, assistance in arranging transportation to medical and social sercie appointments, assistance in accessing community resources and social services in the community, health related services must inclue assistance with self-administration of medications or administration of medications supervised by a Registered Nurse, available to sonsult with staff around the clock, assistance with at least three of the following: dressing, grooming, bathing, eating, transferring, contincence care and toileting, a system to check on residents at least once a day, a system that residents can use to call for assistanc
While a well meaning piece of legislation, and meant to be a protection for consumers, this is a slippery slope. Next there will be documentation requirements, building requirements, nutrition requirements, staffing requirements, I could go on. If we want to keep assisted living communities a viable option for our seniors, we will limit the legislation. Otherwise, today's assisted living will be tomorrow's nursing homes. Institutionalized and unaffordable.
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