Washington, DC – The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and Care Providers of Minnesota today praised Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) for co-sponsoring the Long Term Care Quality and Modernization Act of 2007, which will resolve a variety of systemic problems facing seniors and the long term care providers who care for them.
“We commend Senator Coleman for supporting what amounts to a comprehensive, bipartisan legislative template to help sustain quality improvements in our nation’s nursing homes and other long term care settings,” stated Bruce Yarwood, President & CEO of AHCA. “This legislation, if implemented, would serve to buoy both our successful quality improvement partnership with the federal government and our profession-wide quality initiatives already underway in Minnesota. Passage of this bill is one of our top legislative objectives for 2008 because doing so would help resolve many structural and financial impediments that now threaten these quality improvement efforts over the long term.”
Patti Cullen, President & CEO of Care Providers of Minnesota said, “Care centers throughout our state play a vital role in providing quality care and quality of life to Minnesota’s frail and elderly, and this legislation addresses several major challenges now faced by the long term care profession such as workforce shortages, the need to invest in new technology, and ensuring that quality efforts generated at the facility level are able to flourish for the benefit of every resident.”
Coleman joins U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Susan Collins (R-ME) on the Long Term Care Quality and Modernization Act of 2007, which will enhance long term care quality by promoting investment in capital improvements, encouraging improved collaboration between providers and surveyors, assisting in the creation of a stable and well-trained workforce, and addressing access and financing concerns. Equally important, the bill begins the process of modernizing the fragmented, inefficient Medicare payment system by removing barriers to care for long term care residents.
The American Health Care Association represents nearly 11,000 non-profit and proprietary facilities dedicated to continuous improvement in the delivery of professional and compassionate care provided daily by millions of caring employees to 1.5 million of our nation's frail, elderly and disabled citizens who live in nursing facilities, assisted living residences, subacute centers and homes for persons with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. For more information, please visit www.ahca.org.