Argentum December 7, 2021
(Alexandria, Va.) – American voters of all political stripes agree that President Biden should prioritize assisted living communities for COVID-19 relief and workforce solutions as caregivers for the nation’s seniors face daunting pandemic-related financial losses and staffing shortages.
The findings of a new national survey released by Argentum and conducted by ReconMR (Reconnaissance Market Research) show 86% of those asked said the Biden Administration should target COVID-19 relief funding for senior living communities, and four out of five (77%) believe the remaining $20 billion in the Provider Relief Fund for pandemic support should go to assisted living caregivers.
These numbers show an increase from an Argentum-commissioned poll from summer 2020, when 80% of voters agreed with a similar question about federal COVID-19 relief for assisted living communities.
“While a strong partisan divide exists across the United States on most major issues, such is not the case regarding funding for senior living communities,” the pollsters said.
On the more broad-brushed political questions in this survey such as presidential approval ratings and right track/wrong direction, evidence of the deep national political divide is present.
“However, when discussing senior living communities and the funding or relief assistance to these communities, support is often strong, bipartisan, and spread throughout all major demographics.”
ReconMR said respondents are also concerned about long-term outlook for senior living, covering such areas as worker/caregiver shortages and possible community closures resulting from costs of protecting residents from COVID-19 during the ongoing pandemic.
“With each new variant of COVID-19, America’s senior citizens and their caregivers face anew the challenges that confronted us all two years ago when this pandemic began,” said James Balda,president and CEO of Argentum.
“What this poll shows is rather startling,” he continued. “Americans overwhelmingly want action by policymakers in Washington, D.C., to target pandemic relief to those caring for the most vulnerable to the coronavirus and all of the emerging variants. Our residents have an average age of 85 and all need some level of assistance with daily life. To think their homes would be under threat is something this poll shows is unacceptable.”
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