Member News
November 3, 2020
ASHA sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Monday to again seek clarification about “conflicting information” posted by the department. In updated FAQs posted Oct. 28, HHS said that providers reporting use of the funds toward lost revenues attributable to the coronavirus should report actual patient care revenues and expenses for 2019 and 2020, to allow for a year-over-year calculation of change in revenue, ASHA President David Schless noted in a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar. This instruction, however, conflicts with earlier guidance that continues to be included in the Oct. 28 FAQs, which endorses “any reasonable method of estimating the revenue … had COVID-19 not appeared” and says that one way to estimate lost revenue is the “difference between your budgeted and actual revenue.” For more, read here.October 28, 2020
Series of three videos and advertisements focus on real stories from real people that promote positive resident and family experiences. The second phase of ASHA’s national public relations campaign promoting seniors housing has launched with two new videos and accompanying banner advertisements promoting the seniors housing industry. This phase builds trust in senior living communities, giving seniors and their families the confidence that the industry is making the right decisions at the right times on behalf of residents. It focuses on real stories from real people who promote positive resident and family experiences while highlighting industry expertise. These new videos feature shared perspectives from residents; a community staff member; and from a family member, who speaks to the reassurances that come with having his parents live in a seniors community. The videos are incorporated into banner ads as part of a multifaceted effort that includes digital-video advertising, online-display, paid-search, paid-social, and owned social advertising. The digital campaign leads its audience to ASHA’s Where You Live Matters site, where visitors from the paid-search campaigns can learn more about senior living and advance through the sales process. Here are links to videos:- Community Staff Member video
- Husband and wife resident video
- Adult-child influencer video
October 23, 2020
Changes in the guidance lean favorably to seniors housing operators. In response to the revised guidance, ASHA President David Schless, told McKnights, “[It] is more consistent with guidance that was previously relied upon by senior living operators.” ASHA, he added, will continue to seek clarification from HHS about other reporting guidance issued in September.October 23, 2020
ASHA President David Schless spoke to the New York Times about seniors housing trends in New York City. Post-pandemic, there could be a much bigger audience for this type of real estate product. “New York is probably as underserved as any place in the United States,” including rural regions, said David Schless, President of the American Seniors Housing Association. “So, having more options for older adults is a really positive development.”October 20, 2020
Senior living industry operators that started to receive much needed funding from HHS’s Provider Relief Fund (PRF) are now deeply concerned that the New Reporting Requirements have created widespread confusion and unexpected potential barriers to retaining the funding received.October 20, 2020
ASHA President David Schless was recognized by McKnights as a leader in the senior housing industry as part of McKnights “40 for 40” special, which looks back at the top notable newsmakers over its 40-year anniversary. Senior Lifestyle co-founder and Chairman Bill Kaplan, who has also been active since the beginning and was the association’s chairman in 2002-2003, describes Schless as a “wealth of knowledge and information” and “driven.” Read more.October 19, 2020
ASHA and had submitted comments in response to draft recommendations for the equity allocation of a vaccine that were released in September by a committee of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. LeadingAge also had provided oral testimony and written comments on the draft report. The final report was issued earlier this month. ASHA President David Schless noted that, while pleased with the announcement, the organization also will be continuing its efforts to secure additional federal funding for senior living providers, COVID-related liability protections and greater access to rapid-testing kits. For details, read more.October 19, 2020
ASHA was pleased with the announcement. ASHA President David Schless has long said that the vaccine should be made available on a prioritized basis for both residents and staff of senior living communities. “ASHA continues its ongoing advocacy efforts to secure additional and much-needed government funding for senior living providers, Covid-related liability protections, and greater access to rapid-testing kits provided by the government to the full spectrum of senior living communities,” the organization said in a statement. For more details on the deal, read more.October 16, 2020
The Milken Institute’s Center for the Future of Aging on Oct. 14 hosted an “Innovations Lab” about Long-Term Care Financing and Delivery. These events are intended to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders to devise new business models and policy recommendations. The event involved about 40 diverse stakeholders, including Juniper Communities CEO Lynne Katzmann; NIC’s Bob Kramer; and ASHA tax counsel Randy Hardock. Based stakeholder interviews conducted over more than the past year, the Institute produced an analysis of potential ways to remove current barriers to affordable LTC financing and service delivery. The purpose of the lab was to identify and prioritize the potential paths forward. Not surprisingly, there was general agreement that dealing with the problems of LTC financing and delivery would require actions on a number of fronts. However, the goal of this lab was to identify two or three potential approaches that would be the subject of more intense study and working sessions with the goal of producing a report that details the possible solutions and implementation plans. Although this was a diverse group, the discussion prioritized two general areas for further study:- Access to Better Integrated Health and Home Care: There was general agreement that the U.S. health system does not reward integrated, coordinated service and care delivery between traditional health care and LTC. Better integration of health care and home care (and the transitions between the two) would improve outcomes and cut costs. In particular, the discussion focused on the need for further exploration and expansion of the ability of Medicare Advantage plans to provide non-medical services to the chronically ill. Similarly, there was strong interest in financing prevention, not just intervention in and moving generally toward a capitated financing model and away from uncoordinated fee-for-service financing. There was also general agreement on benefits of ramping up funding for certain successful pilot programs that integrate various types of care and services (e.g., PACE and CAPABLE), including through the use of tax-exempt bonds. There was also discussion of the need to ensure that “home care” needed to be broadly defined to refer to all types of non-institutional care, as appropriate for the needs of the individual and that integrated care would also lead to better incentives to implement new, more efficient, technologies.
- Coordination of Public and Private Financing of LTC Costs: Although the advantages of an integrated care model were seen to provide immediate benefits, there was also strong sentiment that we not lose sight of the fact that current financial resources are not adequate to meet the need (and that this problem is only getting worse). There appeared to be a general consensus on the need for a larger public role, especially in connection with the lower income population (e.g., Medicare and Medicaid expansion), but also that avenues should be explored for better preparing the middle market from future LTC costs (e.g., through better tax rules and more attractive private insurance products). Moreover, there was considerable discussion of the need to coordinate these public and private roles so that individuals would know how to plan.
October 14, 2020
ASHA President David Schless is using ASHA’s consumer-facing website and social media platform “Where You Live Matters” to respond inaccurate and negative stories in the news related to senior living community operations during COVID-19 operations. Read more