(Alexandria, Va.) – Argentum, the national non-profit association that represents 75% of the nation’s senior living communities, said it strongly supports the House appropriations bill released today that advances association priorities for workforce programming and dementia care by calling for increased funding outlays for Fiscal Year 2023.
Argentum has directly advocated with the House Appropriations Committee to make these significant increases in key federal funding that impacts members and residents alike. In addition, Argentum was also able to gain critical report language that advises the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) to better focus workforce development programs to meet the dramatic growth in the needs of an aging U.S. population.
“On workforce alone, this appropriations outline will help bring more people into the profession where staffing challenges have affected communities far and wide. We live in a country with a rapidly aging population where over the course of the next decade, there will be more seniors than children for the first time in our nation’s history,” said James Balda, president and chief executive officer, Argentum.
“This means more seniors will need assisted care than ever before, but Argentum projects that the workforce shortages in the near future will be at catastrophic levels if more is not done. We appreciate the strong investment in Dept. of Labor and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) workforce development and urge the report language to direct a stronger focus on the great needs of our senior population.”
He said advancing a strong federal investment in the senior living workforce shortage crisis is just one component of Argentum’s comprehensive plan to develop the workforce needed for our members to thrive. For example, the association-backed SENIOR Act (H.R. 6530) increases the investment in existing Health and Human Services (HHS) workforce development programs through $1.25 billion in new four-year grants to help develop a geriatric care workforce.
Argentum said the spending outline for FY23 is the start of a legislative process that likely will stretch to the end of this year, but provides a foundation for putting senior living residents, staff, and owners/operators at the top of related appropriations targets.
Below are highlights from the House Appropriations Committee Labor, Health, and Human Services (LHHS) FY23 funding provisions relating to senior living:
- The Committee recommendation includes needed investments in workforce and training systems. Specifically, the recommendation includes $3,135,332,000 for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Grants to States, an increase of $256,000,000 above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level and $116,230,000 above the fiscal year 2023 budget request. In addition, the recommendation includes $303,000,000 for registered apprenticeships, an increase of $68,000,000 above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level and the same as the fiscal year 2023 budget request.
- The Committee provides $3,000,000 for a Direct Care Workforce Demonstration project, to reduce barriers to entry for a diverse and high-quality direct care workforce, including providing wages, benefits, and advancement opportunities needed to attract or retain direct care workers.
- The Committee recommends $303,000,000 for the apprenticeship grants program, which is $68,000,000 more than the fiscal year 2022 enacted level and the same as the fiscal year 2023 budget request. The Committee established this program in 2016 to expand work-based learning programs in in-demand industries through registered apprenticeships. Registered apprenticeships are a proven strategy for meeting the needs of our nation’s workforce and industry simultaneously.
- The Committee includes $48,245,000 for the GWEP program, $3,000,000 above the fiscal year 2022 level and $1,708,000 above the fiscal year 2023 budget request. This program supports training to integrate geriatrics into primary care delivery and develops academic primary care-community based partnerships to address gaps in health care for older adults.
- The Committee recommends $324,472,000 for Nursing Workforce Development programs authorized under title VIII of the PHS Act, $44,000,000 above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level and $29,500,000 above the fiscal year 2023 budget request.
- The Committee is concerned about current and projected shortages of registered nurses in the U.S. as discussed in the HRSA publication Supply and Demand Projections of the Nursing Workforce 2014–2030. The Committee encourages HRSA to prioritize investments to increase the supply of registered nurses particularly in states with the greatest projected shortages.
- The Committee recommends $245,145,000 for the National Senior Volunteer Corps programs, an increase of $14,377,000 over the fiscal year 2022 enacted level and the same as the fiscal year 2023 budget request. Senior Corps is a collection of programs that connect individuals older than the age of 55 with opportunities to contribute their job skills and expertise to community projects and organizations.
- The Committee includes an increase of $5,000,000 to support provisions enacted in the Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act (P.L. 115– 406), including the implementation of the Road Map Series, expanding the number of Centers of Excellence, and building a robust Alzheimer’s and other dementias public health infrastructure across the country.
- The Committee recommends an increase of $200,000,000 for ADRD research. The Committee encourages NIA to continue addressing the research targets outlined in the fiscal year 2023 Professional Judgment Budget. The Committee encourages NIA to take the necessary steps to ensure that NIH-sponsored clinical trials take into account racial and ethnic diversity and the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on underserved populations. In addition, with various treatments for Alzheimer’s disease in the pipeline, the Committee encourages NIA to support a wide range of trials, including those with a patient-based national registry of regulatory grade, longitudinal evidence for patients receiving any FDA-approved disease modifying therapies for Alzheimer’s disease in real-world clinical practice.
Read a complete summary at here.
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 senior living industry—an industry with a national economic impact of nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars and responsible for providing over 1.6 million jobs. For more information, visit www.argentum.org.
Contact:
Patrick Connole, Manager, Media and Public Affairs
ARGENTUM | Expanding Senior Living
703-599-7412 | [email protected]
