Advocacy 101 & Hill Strategy Discussion
ABOUT US About Us
Paul Williams VP of Government Relations Argentum
Maggie Elehwany Senior VP of Public Affairs Argentum
Tyson Belanger Owner and Director Shady Oaks Assisted Living
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Our goal…
Educate
Advocate
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Activate
together.
About You and Your Group in Meetings Self introductions If meeting with a Senator or House Member let them introduce themselves first. Provide information about your community(s). Argentum State Partners will relay number of communities in the state, number of residents that live in senior living communities, state financial impact.
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What to expect
Meetings will be brief Keep introductions brief Stay focused Make sure you have an “ask” Staff will likely be much younger than you would expect
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The Power of You Tell you story Keep it resident focused Keep it staff focused Critical impact you have to the community
Educate You will know more than they do Make sure not to use acronyms/do not assume they know basic senior community issues or terminology
Know who you are meeting with Committee verses personal staff Republican or Democrat/know sensitivities Don’t be political - - be PRO YOUR COMMUNITY and the residents that you serve.
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5 Rules of Advocacy 1. Have an “Ask” 2. Get your “Ask” to the decision-maker 3. Tell them why your “Ask” is important 4. Know who you are educating - - experienced committee staffer or newbie (don’t use acronyms - offer explanations) 5. Be concise, polite and follow-up * Make it COVID-related 9
Make your story urgent and shape it around the challenges of COVID-19 Assisted living provides direct and personalized care, where social distancing is not possible, 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week: 63% need assistance with bathing; 48% need assistance with dressing; and 40% need assistance with toileting. Over 42% suffer from Alzheimer’s or some form of dementia. The average age of an assisted living residents is 85. The majority suffer from chronic conditions and comorbidities, thereby making them the most vulnerable to COVID-19. According to the CDC, individuals aged 85 or higher who are COIVD positive have a 630 times higher risk of death from COVID-19 compared to 19–29-year-olds. 10
COVID targets this population
75-84 years old are 220x more likely to die 85 years or older are 630x more likely to die
CDC National Center for Health Statistics, 2016 National Study of Long-Term Care Providers
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Financial Resources Urgently Needed for PPE and Testing High costs of PPE, additional staff needs, hero pay, testing and sharp declines in occupancy rates have totaled $15 billion, and are increasing substantially each month. Many report exorbitant increases in PPE expenditures, as high as a 2,000% increase for gowns and 1,500% increase for masks. Thousands of assisted living facilities wait for financial relief from the Provider Relief Fund. Money promised to these caregivers last September, still has not been processed. Closures loom. Over half of assisted living providers are operating at a loss, a 20% increase from October 2020, and 56% say they won’t be able to sustain operations for another year, according to recent reports. 12
Senior Living COVID-19 Expenses
*Percentage of assisted living providers with increased expenses as a result of COVID-19
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PROVIDER RELIEF woefully slow and insufficient- thousands still have not received relief funding Hospital, Nursing Homes and Others ($145 Billion) Assisted Living Facilities ($3 Billion) Unallocated ($27 Billion)
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Providers Desperately Need Relief 56% of Assisted Living Providers anticipate closures within the next year, potentially forcing seniors from their homes and caregivers OVER HALF of Assisted Living Providers are currently operating at a loss
Internal member surveys conducted by Argentum and the National Center for Assisted Living (2020-2021)
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$15 billion in losses State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri
Economic Impact
Financial Losses
State
1,000,000,000 444,500,000 4,700,000,000 63,800,000 26,500,000,000 3,600,000,000 2,600,000,000 638,200,000 14,500,000,000 5,000,000,000 447,300,000 1,300,000,000 5,900,000,000 3,200,000,000 821,200,000 157,900,000 1,200,000,000 2,700,000,000 1,300,000,000 3,600,000,000 6,000,000,000 7,700,000,000 4,200,000,000 702,600,000 2,100,000,000
‐$31,613,376 ‐$274,447,751 ‐$450,547,895 ‐$176,317,164 ‐$1,931,725,797 ‐$237,448,280 ‐$150,801,563 ‐$46,371,337 ‐$1,004,291,185 ‐$541,311,322 ‐$15,056,818 ‐$98,034,807 ‐$676,745,692 ‐$375,841,517 ‐$191,974,121 ‐$165,200,046 ‐$215,732,952 ‐$239,394,185 ‐$23,527,869 ‐$212,551,609 ‐$302,346,934 ‐$367,653,561 ‐$278,023,730 ‐$165,287,945 ‐$276,748,889
Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
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Economic Impact
Financial Losses
1,100,000,000 1,000,000,000 1,100,000,000 555,700,000 3,500,000,000 715,000,000 10,000,000,000 7,500,000,000 541,900,000 4,800,000,000 612,400,000 7,200,000,000 6,200,000,000 742,600,000 1,900,000,000 656,600,000 2,400,000,000 8,800,000,000 1,800,000,000 428,600,000 5,100,000,000 7,400,000,000 410,100,000 8,600,000,000 204,300,000
‐$56,336,673 ‐$114,933,869 ‐$166,675,539 ‐$38,953,256 ‐$412,994,356 ‐$104,096,209 ‐$843,294,536 ‐$448,285,553 ‐$59,079,126 ‐$535,709,420 ‐$235,336,276 ‐$85,342,779 ‐$499,755,039 ‐$68,957,775 ‐$261,375,029 ‐$65,345,424 ‐$434,999,448 ‐$1,400,901,144 ‐$207,590,461 ‐$6,985,253 ‐$301,834,694 ‐$186,594,088 ‐$356,191,515 16 ‐$71,872,389 ‐$31,176,911
Devasting Losses Are Not Sustainable Nearly 56% of communities anticipate closures. Potentially displacing caregivers and residents.
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ASK: Don’t leave seniors and their caregivers behind 1.
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Provide Targeted Relief to Assisted Living. Support language to direct the HHS Sec. to target $5 billion in PRF to Assisted Living providers. Allow Assisted Living providers access to the billions of dollars in testing, PPE, vaccines and therapeutics in the Act.
“We haven't received the [relief] funds yet, but when they arrive, (fingers crossed), it will be an absolute game-changer for us. We could not continue through this winter without it. Our concern now is that we're entering a period of two years of pandemic suppression. We're going to need more support.” - Assisted Living Community Executive Director 18
Taking our Message to the Hill A. Advocate for targeted funding of $5 billion for Assisted Living. B. Advocate for the inclusion of Assisted Living providers in key sections of American Recovery Act: 1) Sec. 3001-3004 - Vaccines and Therapeutics 2) Sec. 3011 – 3014 – Testing 3) Sec. 3031-3034 – Public Health Investment
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Join the fight!
ABOUT US Audience
Q&A
Paul Williams VP of Government Relations Argentum
Maggie Elehwany Senior VP of Public Affairs Argentum
Tyson Belanger Owner and Director Shady Oaks Assisted Living
Download the Public Policy Institute Briefing Book here for more information.
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