ASSISTED LIVING: Industry May Face Tougher Scrutiny
The sudden financial collapse Friday of Managed Assisted Care Services Inc. has prompted calls for more oversight and funding for the industry. The young company's rapid expansion over the last two years imploded into insolvency when a major investor backed out, leaving employees and families scrambling to find new homes for 153 residents (Reyes, Los Angeles Times, 3/22). Thirty-five states have applied for a waiver allowing the use of federal Medicaid dollars for assisted living care, and a bill introduced by Assemblywoman Dion Aroner (D-Oakland), AB 499, would make California the thirty-sixth. Seniors seeking assisted living care in California face "a bewildering maze of policies, bureaucracies and programs," said James Mayer, head of the Little Hoover Commission, which is charged with evaluating state policy on assisted living care. Another bill, AB 452, by Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni (D-Novato), would consolidate state agencies that regulate and fund assisted living facilities ( Orange County Register, 3/21). The Register notes that under current law, the only requirements for administrators of assisted living facilities are that they are at least 18 years old and that they undergo 40 hours of training, in contrast with licensed hair stylists, who must undergo 1,600 hours of training (Haas, 3/21).
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