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.   

Many LGBT seniors find it difficult to survive in today’s health care system. GenSilent interviewed LGBT seniors and others for insights into this growing problem. In a recent publication from the Institute for Multigenerational Health, The Aging and Health Report: Disparities and Resilience among LGBT Older Adults states, “The five services and programs identified by participants as being most needed for LGBT older adults are senior housing (66 percent), transportation (62 percent), social events (62 percent), support groups (55 percent), and legal services (53 percent).

Our office is sponsoring a continuing education seminar for social workers and case managers on LGBT issues during our March professional seminars.  Please refer to our firm website for dates and times. 

Learn more about GenSilent's documentary on LGBT seniors.