Senate Special Committee On Aging Announces Assisted Living Hearing 

Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho), chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, announced today that the committee will hold a hearing on "Assisted Living in the 21st Century." 

"Assisted living facilities offer senior citizens a middle ground between complete independent living or living in a nursing home," Craig said.  "As the baby boomers continue to age, the number of facilities and people served by them will rise dramatically." 

The hearing comes exactly two years after another hearing on the same topic.   

Thursday's hearing is titled "Assisted Living in the 21st Century: Examining Its Role in the Continuum of Care." It will be  held in room 562 of the Dirksen Building, in Washington, D.C., Thursday, April 26, from 9:00-11:00 eastern.  The hearing will be webcast live at http://aging.senate.gov/whatsnew.htm and will be available for viewing later at the same site.  

"The hearing this year will evaluate developments in assisted living since our hearing two years ago," Craig said.  "We need to examine what various states are doing in terms of consumer protection, staff training and assistance with medications." 

At the 1999 hearing, titled, "Shopping for Assisted Living – What Consumers Need to Make the Best Buy," the General Accounting Office reported that while assisted living is becoming increasingly popular, some facilities were not routinely providing prospective residents with sufficient information to adequately choose a facility.  Committee members closed that hearing by calling for self-policing of the industry.  Thursday's hearing will evaluate if the self-policing policy is working. 

According to industry experts, there are over 27,0000 assisted living facilities in the United States housing an estimated 700,000 to 1.15 million people.