Assisted Living Regulations Released!
PHILADELPHIA, PA—(MAY, 2010) The Department of Public Welfare submitted final-form regulations for licensure of Assisted Living Facilities in PA on May 3, 2010. Pursuant to the Regulatory Review Act, these regulations will now be reviewed by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) and the Standing Committees in the PA House (Aging and Older Adult Services) and the PA Senate (Public Health and Welfare). The IRRC will hold a public meeting on these regulations on June 3, 2010 at 10 AM in the Bush Meeting Room on the 14th floor at 333 Market Street in Harrisburg. The agenda for, or any changes to the time, date or location of the public meeting, will be posted on IRRC’s Web site. The IRRC will take written testimony and comments until 6/01/2010. The Standing Committees, which will also review and take action on the regulation, will receive written comments up to 24 hours before the IRRC public meeting (which would be 10 AM on June 2, 2010, for this regulation). A copy of the final-form regulation is available at the IRRC Web site here.
Individuals interested in submitting written comments should do so early rather than waiting until the end of the comment period. Written comments on the regulation may be submitted to IRRC, the Standing Committees, or individual legislators (www.legis.state.pa.us). Written comments may be sent to the IRRC by fax at 717-783-2664, by e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or by regular mail to: Independent Regulatory Review Commission, 333 Market Street, 14th Floor, Harrisburg PA, 17101. Written comments should reference the ID number for this regulation: #12-514 (#2712). The Pennsylvania Assisted Living Consumer Alliance (PALCA) is in the process of reviewing and analyzing the final-form regulations. Analysis will be posted to the PALCA Web site (http://www.paassistedlivingconsumeralliance.org/).
Once the regulations are approved, DPW will then submit the regulation to the Attorney General for review for form and legality. After the Attorney General’s review is complete, the regulations will be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin as final rulemaking (anticipated by the end of July 2010) and will become effective six months after the date of publication.
The final-form regulations can be viewed here.
Regulations Update: Final Form Regulations To Be Released Spring 2010
PHILADELPHIA, PA—(FEBRUARY, 2010) The final form assisted living regulations will be issued by the Office of Long Term Living (OLTL) no later than May 2010. PALCA has advocated for safety, freedom of choice and strong legal standards for residents in assisted living facilities across the state. Since its formation in 2008 with the generous support of The Pew Charitable Trusts, PALCA has worked to ensure that the consumer voice is heard and considered in the development of assisted living licensure requirements. PALCA is advocating for the establishment of standards that define and regulate assisted living facilities – in particular, standards relating to residents’ rights; staff qualifications, training, and resident ratio requirements; physical site design; fire and safety codes; aging in place considerations; consumer choice, control, and autonomy; and meaningful enforcement mechanisms.
OLTL will send their final form regulations to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) as well as to the Standing Committees in the House and Senate seeking their approval of the regulations. The public as well as interested stakeholders can still try to influence the regulatory process at this stage by providing input and comment to the IRRC and/or the Standing Committees. Once approval of the regulations is obtained, OLTL will then submit the regulation to the Attorney General for review for form and legality. After the Attorney General’s review is complete, the regulations will be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin as final rulemaking and will become effective six months after the date of publication.
Check back soon after the final form regulations are issued for PALCA’s analysis.
Solutions For Better Care For The Elderly
PHILADELPHIA, PA—(OCTOBER 19, 2009)—With Pennsylvania just weeks away from the publication of final assisted living regulations, recently-released survey results about the size of living units in existing facilities show the wisdom of the proposed rules – and the absurdity of the industry’s opposition.
The size of the living units has been one of the most contentious issues in the battle over the regulations between consumers and the industry. Existing rules governing facilities that call themselves assisted living only require 80 square feet of living space per person. This is woefully small, equivalent to the federal minimum requirement for a prison cell. Rooms of this size do not provide a home-like environment and are not big enough to ensure comfort and safety for residents who are usually elderly and have disabilities.
The state has proposed setting the minimum requirement at 175 square feet for existing construction and 250 square feet for new construction, excluding bathrooms and closets. The latter number also is the recommended size supported by the Philadelphia Housing Authority and Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. But the assisted living industry wants the minimum set at 125 square feet for existing construction and 150 square feet for new construction.
Trade associations argue that facilities cannot currently meet the proposed standards. But the survey results show that many facilities are meeting the standards already.
According to a recent voluntary survey conducted by the state of Pennsylvania, more than 72% (20,801 units out of 28,774 units as reported to the state this Spring) of existing living units already meet (and mostly exceed) the state’s proposed 175-square-foot requirement. More than 700 facilities that are currently licensed as personal care homes - that may or may not call themselves assisted living - voluntarily participated in this survey. The survey was distributed by the state via e-mail and has been posted on the Pennsylvania Assisted Living Consumer Alliance website at www.paassistedlivingconsumeralliance.org.
These survey results are heartening and strongly support the state’s proposal on this topic. And they significantly undercut continued lobbying by the industry for lower standards.
“Consumers deserve a home-like setting with enough room that they can have a quality life and that they can maneuver around their living space while using their wheelchair or scooter,” said Alissa Halperin, Senior Attorney and Deputy Director of Policy Advocacy at the Pennsylvania Health Law Project and director of the PA Assisted Living Consumer Alliance (PALCA). Published data from 1999, the most recent available such report, showed more than 21 percent of residents in assisted living facilities relying on wheelchairs and 44 percent on walkers. “According to the architects we’ve consulted, who are recognized experts in the Americans With Disabilities Act and accessible design, anything less than roughly 200 square feet, even excluding bathrooms and closets, is not accessible to a wheelchair user,” Halperin added. “And even that amount of space is only accessible if arranged and furnished in just the right way.”
Residents who use wheelchairs and staff at various facilities have told the Pennsylvania Assisted Living Consumer Alliance that some residents have to sit in bed and wait to be transferred to a nearby wheelchair because the room doesn’t provide enough space for the residents to roll the chair up to the side of the bed so that they can transfer on their own.
About 50,000 people in Pennsylvania live in facilities that may call themselves assisted living facilities, housing people who are not so sick as to require a nursing home. Residents generally need help with bathing, dressing, medication management and other basic care needs. Current Pennsylvania regulations lump assisted living facilities together with personal care homes and other homes for the elderly and disabled.
The Alliance has identified numerous ways that the Department of Public Welfare’s proposed rules for assisted living need to be improved before becoming final. For more information on PALCA’s concerns with the proposed regulations or to find a list of participating organizations that are part of the Alliance and where PALCA stands on each of the regulatory issues.
Alissa Halperin
Director of the PA Assisted Living Consumer Alliance
www.paassistedlivingconsumeralliance.org
(215) 435-3257
Urgent Regulations Update
In October 2008, the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) submitted comments to the Department of Public Welfare on the proposed Assisted Living Regulations. In its letter, the IRRC stated:
“Before submitting the final-form version of this regulation, the Department should survey existing facilities and the industry across the state to ascertain exactly the number of rooms that will be qualified to be licensed to provide ALR services under the Department’s regulation. The Department should explain how the limitations and requirements in this regulation will result in availability of ALRs to Pennsylvanians at a cost they can afford.”
Accordingly, the Office of Long Term Living (OLTL) conducted a survey of 1,437 Personal Care Homes in the Commonwealth. Below is a preliminary review of the survey findings.
Click here for the summary of the responses to each of the questions on the survey
More Articles...
Page 1 of 2
