Two Years After GAO Report, Aging Committee Takes A Second Look At Assisted Living Industry

At a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on assisted living facilities, Chairman Larry Craig (R-Idaho) said that the committee had taken the proper action by taking another look at the industry. 

"Two years ago this committee looked at the issues involving assisted living.  With hundreds of thousands of Americans now living in such facilities nationwide, it's important that we continually evaluate the quality of care they are providing," Craig said. 

The hearing on assisted living follows up on a 1999 report presented to the Aging Committee by the General Accounting Office (GAO).  That report indicated that some assisted living facilities were not routinely providing prospective residents with sufficient information to adequately choose a facility.  The report raised other concerns as well.  Committee members closed that hearing by calling for self-policing of the industry.    

Since that time two non-profit groups, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (www.jcaho.org) and the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (www.carf.org)  have introduced voluntary standards for assisted living  facilities.      

Currently, assisted living facilities are regulated by individual states, and a recent report issued by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) says that each state defines the level of care provided by assisted living facilities and services offered.  The CRS report also found that most states require that residents in assisted living facilities: have stable medical conditions; not need 24-hour skilled nursing care; or not have medical conditions, such as tube feeding, that require constant care.         

Assisted living facilities evolved during the 1980s to offer a middle step between complete independence and nursing home care.  CRS reports that there are 32,886 assisted living facilities in the United States with nearly 800,000 beds.  Over 36% of the beds are located in just three states: California, Florida and Pennsylvania.