Argentum was thrilled to welcome more than 120 attendees to this year’s Public Policy Institute (PPI), held last week in Washington, D.C. We were also excited to be joined by numerous lawmakers, including: Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Representatives Annie Kuster (D-NH), Bryan Steil (R-WI), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Kat Cammack (R-FL), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), and Susan Wild (D-PA), along with former Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO). We sincerely appreciate everyone who was able to join us and participate in person, and we encourage everyone to join us for this event next year (date to be announced).

The success of this event is vital to our overall public policy and advocacy efforts on behalf of the association and our industry. More than 130 Congressional offices were visited by constituents over the course of the week, where lawmakers and their staff were able to hear senior living professionals tell their story first-hand on the challenges facing the industry and the solutions that will help address the workforce shortages and increase access and affordability of senior living to meet the growing demands of long-term care services.

To put this more directly: while Argentum lobbyists meet with Congressional offices on a regular basis throughout the year, it is your personal stories that often have the greatest impact, and we can’t do that without your help. We need every one of our members to send a representative to share those stories with every member of congress!

The meetings held at PPI have already had meaningful impacts: 

• Representative Bryan Steil (R-WI), co-chair of the House 21st Century Long-Term Care Caucus, has committed to serve as a lead co-sponsor of the House companion bill to S. 495, the Expanding Veterans’ Options for Long Term Care Act, legislation to establish a pilot program for eligible veterans to receive assisted living care paid for by the Veterans Administration (VA). We expect the House companion to be introduced by the end of the month.
• Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Lori Trahan (D-MA) committed to once again lead legislation targeted at senior living providers. This will be an update from the SENIOR Act they led in the last session of Congress and will focus on workforce and affordability issues.
• The House 21st Century Long-Term Care Caucus is planning to hold briefings on important issues in long-term care and specifically showcase the workforce crisis and possible solutions. We will share more information on these briefings soon.

Additionally, at PPI we were pleased to announce the release of two new Argentum-led reports:

The Value of Assisted Living for America: 
This report provides the data and tools needed to make the argument about the value that assisted living provides to aging Americans by lowering costs and providing improved quality of life, better health outcomes, and reduced health care costs. 
Access the report

Workforce Projections for Senior Care Sectors: This report presents a workforce outlook for the senior care industry with a specific focus on senior living, skilled nursing, home health care, and services for the elderly and persons with disabilities sectors. 
Access the report

You can read more about these reports and more broadly the PPI in coverage from McKnight’s Senior Living here:

• March 8: Creatively leveraging existing immigration law key to meeting workforce needs
• March 9: Senior living will need 3 million workers by 2040: Argentum
• March 10: Assisted living’s value lies in affordable, quality care

Once again, thank you to everyone who joined us for the PPI. We truly believe that your participation in this event enables us to form meaningful relationships with policymakers, helps tell our story, connects our advocacy on issues relating to workforce development, immigration reform, and tax policy, and allows you as stakeholders to have a better understanding of how to affect those policies.

Please be sure to tell your colleagues to get involved with advocacy efforts at Argentum. The more frequently we tell our story to lawmakers and regulators, the more likely we will influence legislation that will positively affect the industry for years to come.

We hope to see you at our next Public Policy Institute!

James R. Balda

President & CEO