ORANJ - MEETINGS

Fall 2009 Plenary Meeting

On October 21, 2009 the Fall plenary meeting was held at Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains, NJ. The meeting attracted a record attendance, which was commented upon by all the speakers.

A brief business meeting included reports from all the standing committees and concluded with unanimous approval of the slate of candidates, put forward by Wink Livengood, Chair of the Nominating Committee.

Unfortunately, the scheduled morning speaker, Mr. Rick Grindrod, President and CEO of the Erickson Retirement Communities, had to cancel his commitment. In his place, Mr. Peter Desh of the NJ Department of Community Affairs in Trenton made a brief presentation, describing his department’s responsibilities. He also said that he and his staff were open at any time to questions and comments about CCRCs although, at present, ORANJ had no statutory authority to advise the governor on issues relating to CCRCs.

In the afternoon, Mr. Doug Pace, Chairman of the Long-Term Care Solution Campaign for the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) described the urgent need for a legislative solution to meet the long term care expenses for the 10 million Americans including six million over 65 who need help. Only 4% of the long term care expenses are covered by private insurance and 20% by Medicaid, leaving 52% paid by ourselves.

AAHSA’s solution is a broad based National Insurance Trust financed by premiums from an all-inclusive risk pool. The program would be actuarially sound because it would be prefunded by baby boomers long before they would need the coverage. The program would not cover all services but would provide a certain amount of cash (for example, $75 a day for up to one year) to a person age 21 or older, with qualifying disabilities (2 or more ADLs), after a five year vesting period. Premiums would rise if the claimant desired coverage for more than one year. Additional insurance benefits could be purchased to cover full costs of long term care.

In order to succeed, the program would require everyone’s participation in order to achieve a sufficiently large risk pool. The emphasis on cash benefits would widen the choices among services and permit payment to a neighbor or relative as a care giver.

AAHSA found that with the above parameters, we can create a national insurance trust that would pay a benefit of about $27,000 per year to each adult who needs assistance with two or more ADLs for about the cost of a large cup of coffee a day.

Spring 2009 Plenary Meeting - Summary
Held at The Fountains at Cedar Parke on April 15, 2009

The primary speaker was Stephen Maag, JD., Director, Assisted Living and Continuing Care for the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA). His presentation consisted of two parts, 1. current issues relating to fair housing and transfers versus aging in place, and 2. social accountability among not-for-profit providers.

Mr. Maag’s second topic, social accountability, is particularly important because of 1,850 CCRCs in the US about 82% are not-for-profits. They receive tax exemptions on the assumption that they serve a community or governmental need in return. These exemptions are increasingly being challenged in the courts especially as communities with budget deficits look to increase their revenue streams.

In the afternoon, Charles Graziano, aid to Congressman Adler of the third Congressional District of Southern NJ, spoke briefly of items concerning seniors that are under discussion in the Financial Services and Veteran Affairs Committees

.. Full Report of 2009 Spring Meeting

-Ellen Handler, Chair, Communications Committee of ORANJ

2008 Fall Plenary Meeting Attracts Largest Ever Audience

About 125 people attended the Fall, 2008 meeting of ORANJ on October 15 at Arbor Glen. In welcoming the audience, James Wells, the CEO of the CCRC commented on a number of positive changes that he had noted. These included the greater empowerment of residents along with greater involvement of residents in governance of their CCRC. He also said that “the ears of management are more open.”

-Ellen Handler, Communications Committee, ORANJ

...Full Report of 2008 Fall Meeting

2008 Spring Meeting of ORANJ Devoted to Environmental Issues

The spring semi-annual ORANJ meeting took place on April 16 at Medford Leas. After a brief business meeting, the morning was devoted to a presentation by Solomon Randall, Founder and Executive Director of NJ Sustainable State Institute, a Rutgers University think tank devoted to strategies to enhance sustainability in NJ. “Sustainability” or “Sustainable Development” means protecting the resources and systems that support us today so that they will be available to future generations.

...Full Report of 2008 Spring Meeting

The 2007 Fall Plenary Meeting

The Plenary Meeting of ORANJ on October 16, 2007 at Franciscan Oaks in Denville attracted about 120 attendees from 16 members CCRCs. Among the attendees were Joan Duggan, CEO of the NJ Homes and Services for the Aging and Peter Desh of the Department of Community Affairs in Trenton.

The morning speaker was Candy Ashmun, a private consultant on environmental matters including land use and preservation (www.anjec.org) accompanied by Michelle Byers of the NJ Conservation Foundation (www.njconservation.org).

.. Full Report of 2007 Fall Meeting

The 2007 Spring Plenary Meeting

On April 18, 2007, ORANJ held its plenary meeting at the Pines at Whiting. 104 members attended, representing 19 CCRC communities and 3 guests.

In the morning session, Steven Schragis, founder of One Day University, described his programs. Four or five of the most popular professors of Ivy League colleges are asked to speak in a day of classes. The program is popular with seniors. It was suggested that individual CCRCs might be able to work with him to develop programs for members of one or groups of CCRCs.

In the afternoon session, two nurses from the Living Independently Group described various devices and monitoring techniques for keeping people safe in their own homes.

The 2006 Fall Plenary meeting

On October 18, 2006, Michael Patterson from AARP addressed the fall meeting of ORANJ (the Organization of Residents Associations of New Jersey) at Stonebridge at Montgomery in Skillman, NJ. The meeting attracted a record turnout of over 100 people from various CCRCs (Continuous Care Retirement Communities) throughout the state. The presentation on brain health is part of a national Staying Sharp initiative, which is a joint project of NRTA: AARP’s Educator Community, (formerly the National Retired Teachers Association): and the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives.

Summary of Mr. Patterson's address

2006 Spring Plenary Meeting

Koza Address - Responsive Leadership
At the 2006 Spring Plenary Meeting of ORANJ, Dennis Koza, CEO of Medford Leas, described the five “Truths” a CEO needs to believe for effective communication with residents of a CCRC. The first truth is: The residents pay my salary. ,,Koza Speech..

Catherine Kelly of Seabrook spoke on the Health Insurance Portability Accountabiility Act and Ford Livengood of the Essex County Fraud Unit spoke on identity theft.

Minutes of the 2006 Spring Meeting

2006 Meeting of the South West District - Representatives of Southwest Disctrict CCRCs met to share information so that ideas and best practices may be disseminated among CCRCs. Meeting Minutes