On Wednesday, July 13, 2022, two representatives of LeadingAge NJ/DE and two representatives of Fellowship Senior Living were invited to attend the monthly Zoom conversation that brings together representatives from Resident Associations of CCRCs in New Jersey. The links below provide information about participants.
LeadingAge NJ/DE Leaders: James McCracken, Meagan Glaser, Fellowshp SL Leaders: Brian Lawrence, Liz Fandel
ORANJ Leaders: Ron Whalin, Barbara Trought, Gary Baldwin, Rick Ober, Paul Basham, Maggie Heineman, and Andy Kleppe. Gary, who was unable to attend in person, has seen the recording and helped with this summary.
Residents from 13 ORANJ Member Associations attended: Atrium in Redbank, Crestwood Manor, Fellowship Village, Friends Village, Laurel Circle, Meadow Lakes, Medford Leas, Monroe Village, The Oaks, Pines at Whiting, Seabrook, Stonebridge, Wiley Mission.
Because the conversation jumped around from one topic to another this summary is organized by topic, not in the order that things were said. Residents who wish to view the recording should send a request to oranjnewsetter@gmail.com
Brian Lawrence started with introductions. He stressed that there is a sense of urgency. He explained that even now we cannot meet the demand for services because we lack staff. Brian said over the next 20 years we will need millions more caregivers. There will be 50% more older adults Later Liz told us that data from the Homecare Association estimates an increase in caregivers of only 2-3% over the next 20 years. There will be a huge disparity between the increase in older adults and the increase in caregivers. Today LeadingAge and Fellowship are focusing on three asks at the state level and one at the federal level.
1.Staffing agencies hire people away by providing a slightly higher rate to lure them away. Later in the meeting Liz said that an hourly increase of only 25 or 50 cents an hour can cause a caregiver to change jobs. Brian said that the first ask is to limit the amount that a staffing agency can offer relative to the “usual and customary hourly rate” in the industry. During the comments one resident said he approved of this ask, but it was labeled Price Fixing by one resident and criticized by several others as both wrong and illegal. Rick said he was not aware of any legislation in which either state or federal government limited what a private company could pay to a private individual. He would be interested in knowing about any such example. Wayne Steadman and Wendy Gansberg concurred. Subsequently Brian made a revised compromise proposal that the temp agencies be limited to charging 20% over the “usual and customary rate.” This would in effect control how much the temp agencies pay the .caregivers.
2.In his initial presentation, prior to receiving those comments on the first ask, Brian explained that staffing agencies engaged in Price Gouging by charging providers much more (up to 50% more) than the caregiver was receiving. This practice enriches the staffing agency at the expense of the provider who would have to pass increased labor costs on to the recipients of care. So, the first ask is to limit how much staffing agencies can pay caregivers and the 2nd ask is to restrict staffing agencies to charging providers no more than 20% more than they are paying the caregivers. All the commenters supported the second ask concerning price gouging.
3.The third ask is to provide funding for programs to promote training of caregivers. CAN, CHHA, LPN, RN. We need all of them. Some states are doing this now, promoting the career path through scholarships and training and so forth. The residents who commented all favored this third ask.
There is also a Federal issue: Encourage Immigration. Bring more foreign health care workers into the US. Shorten the time it takes to get a visa for health care workers – it is now two years. Barbara Trought explained that ORANJ will be working on state issues and that NaCCRA works on national issues. LeadingAgeNJDE would like ORANJ to work on national issues as well. There was general support for working to encourage immigration of caregivers. A resident asked who is responsible to provide support for immigrant health workers, would that be the CCRC that hires them or a whole new agency. Jim McCracken said there must be a system in place to help them transition. A worker often comes with a family, one worker and four people. They need a safe place to live and various services, how they can get to work, that type of thing and that must be well thought through. Jim said he knows that some communities with lower occupancy in independent living are giving immigrant transitional housing in the CCRC.
Beyond the specific issues discussed there is a process issue. ORANJ is experienced in lobbying for bills to become law. LeadingAge says that there are currently no bills to saupport. We are being asked to develop issue advocacy to encourage lawmakers and regulators to do something.
We encourage residents to continue to participate in this conversation through comments on the blog and/or with email to the contacts listed below.
Contacts:
Liz Fandel: efandel@fellowshipsl.org
Meagan Glaser: mglaser@leadingagenjde.org
Maggie Heineman: oranjnewsletter@gmail.com