Proposed increases to staffing ratios that senior living industry experts said could threaten the viability of Maine’s assisted living communities have been pushed aside in favor of reporting requirements and a stakeholder study group to gather staffing data statewide.
Earlier this month, the Maine Health and Human Services Committee unanimously supported a bill (HP 639 / LD 979) that removed staffing ratio changes that would have doubled the number of direct care workers required to work overnight at residential care facilities and set rules for memory care units that went beyond state and federal staffing requirements at nursing homes.
The updated bill maintains current staffing standards but would require administrators to report quarterly information on the number of direct care workers per shift, including the number of temporary staff members and turnover rates. Those data will be loaded into a dashboard accessible to the public.
The bill also would require all memory care units to be licensed as residential care facilities, which have more stringent requirements than assisted living communities regarding assessment, safety and service planning for residents.
In addition, the bill would create a study group with representatives from the assisted living industry, direct care workers, family members and resident advocates, including the Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, Legal Services for Maine Elders, the Alzheimer’s Association and the AARP. The work group would examine staffing and other regulatory matters and would produce a final report by January 2027.
While the bill continues to pose some additional burdens on providers, LeadingAge Maine & New Hampshire told McKnight’s Senior Living it is “clearly far less impactful and easier to comply with” than if the original staffing mandates had prevailed.
“While the discussion and review of staffing patterns is not over, the process of discussion and review will be far more balanced going forward than it was prior to the release of the bill,” LeadingAge ME & NH Director of Member Services and Government Affairs Denise Vachon said. “We think that it’s as good of an outcome as could be hoped for.”
Vachon had testified before a committee that providers were not against new staffing ratios as much as they were concerned for the labor pool and the ability to comply with ratios in light of the state budget. The budget, she said, failed to fund cost of living adjustments to provide for competitive wages and maintained flat funding in the next two years in the assisted living sector with no rate reform process in sight.
Argentum called the move a “significant achievement” for assisted living communities in the state. Argentum Vice President of Government Relations Paul Williams testified at a committee hearing on the original bill, encouraging lawmakers to “revert back to a true collaborative rule writing process that included all stakeholders.”
The Maine HHS Committee unveiled the original proposed changes to assisted living and residential care home regulations last fall, saying they would simplify the licensing process. Following an outcry from the senior living industry, the state put forth a new proposal that reduced the staffing requirements and would phase in changes over two years.
Senior living associations previously told McKnight’s Senior Living that although an update to assisted housing program licensing rules was needed, providers are continually being asked to do more with less, and they cited a lack of funding with the new requirements.
The bill will now move to the full legislature for consideration.
Source: McKnights Seniorliving