Assisted Living

New Pennsylvania assisted living regulations went into effect in January 2011.  Prior to January 2011, assisted living communities in Pennsylvania were known as personal care homes.  As of January 2011, there were 1,362 licensed personal care homes in Pennsylvania.  As February 2012, only 12 PA personal care homes have decided to become licensed assisted living residences, and therefore subject to tighter regulations.

Why not more?  The answer is that there really is no incentive for personal care homes to be subject to the stricter regulations.  Therefore, they will be saving money remaining as personal care homes.  However, the marketplace itself may dictate PA personal care homes becoming licensed as assisted living residences in the future.

Also, with regard to potential future PA Medicaid coverage for assisted living care, Governer Corbett has stated publicly that his administration will not be implementing Medicaid assisted living coverage in th near future.  That decision is a significant negative for PA's elderly population.   

An issue brief from the National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC), “Area Assisted Living Residents Being Unfairly Evicted After Spending Down to Medicaid Levels” looks at the problem of assisted living centers refusing to accept Medicaid as payment in full for services, even when a resident believed he/she would be able to “age in place.” Read the issue brief at http://naela.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0xNjQ3MjExJnA9MSZ1PTEwMjQxMDY4NjUmbGk9NzQxOTQ5Mw/index.html