(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) today introduced S. 4120, the Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act. Maggie Elehwany, Argentum Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, and Susan Saxinger, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Assisted Living Association (PALA), issued the following statements:
“Argentum appreciates Senators Casey, Kaine, and Baldwin recognizing the current workforce shortage and introducing legislation to provide additional resources to address it,” Elehwany said. “We will thoroughly analyze the legislation and its potential impacts on the senior living industry to ensure that it will uphold the highest standards of care and support for older adults, while also addressing the workforce challenges facing our communities.”
The health care workforce crisis has been one of the few areas of bipartisan agreement in the 118th Congress. There have been multiple House and Senate committee hearings and calls from both sides of the aisle to stem the exodus of health care workers. Time is of the essence; the United States will need to create more than 20 million new jobs by 2040 to care for our rapidly aging population.
The combined long-term care industry lost more than 400,000 jobs during the pandemic, and the assisted living industry alone lost roughly 110,000. While the employment picture has improved in many sectors, workforce participation in the nursing and residential senior care sectors continues to shrink. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the overall healthcare workforce grew approximately 15.5% over the past decade, but the nursing home and residential care workforce is down 8.4% from January 2020.
Argentum continues to champion public policy efforts to bolster the senior living workforce, working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to secure funding for the Department of Labor’s Employment & Training Administration, Job Corps, and the HRSA Health Workforce. These measures, and others to allow flexibility in tax advantaged savings plans to pay for training and continuing education, will help expand the pipeline of caregivers.
“Pennsylvania’s population is aging rapidly, and by 2030, one in five residents will be age 65 and older,” Saxinger said. “To care for this aging population, we will need to fill more than 1 million jobs by 2040. PALA appreciates Senator Casey’s introducing legislation to provide funding for workforce development and apprenticeships to help ease the shortage that continues to impact communities throughout the state. We will continue to review the bill and its possible effects on Personal Care Homes and Assisted Living Communities and the seniors they serve in Pennsylvania.”
About Argentum
Argentum is the leading national association exclusively dedicated to supporting companies operating professionally managed, resident-centered senior living communities and the older adults and families they serve. Since 1990, Argentum has advocated for choice, independence, dignity, and quality of life for all older adults.
Argentum member companies operate senior living communities offering assisted living, independent living, continuing care, and memory care services. Along with its state partners, Argentum’s membership represents approximately 75 percent of the professionally managed communities in the senior living industry—an industry with a national economic impact of nearly $250 billion dollars and more than 1.6 million jobs.
About the Pennsylvania Assisted Living Association (PALA)
PALA is a professional not-for-profit trade association representing Personal Care Homes and Assisted Living Communities for-profit and not-for-profit that vary in size from small owners to large state and national corporations. PALA’s mission is to strengthen the capability of its membership to provide affordable, community based, person centered care and services in high quality, state licensed personal care homes and assisted living residences throughout Pennsylvania.
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Contact:
Michael Keegan
Manager, Media and Public Affairs
ARGENTUM | Expanding Senior Living
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Washington, DC 20001
703-599-7412 | [email protected]
