The Nursing Home Abuse Podcast: Are Assisted Living Facilities Regulated? (March 03, 2019)

On March 3, an episode of the Nursing Home Abuse Podcast featured Justice in Aging Directing Attorney, Eric Carlson, as a guest. The podcast is a project of two attorneys in Georgia. The episode was Are Assisted Living Facilities Regulated? Beginning at around 5:37, Eric talks about the differences between assisted living and nursing facilities, noting that more people who need higher levels of care are living in assisted living facilities than in previous years. Eric covers the regulatory framework for assisted living facilities, making clear that the laws governing assisted living facilities are different from state-to-state, as opposed to nursing homes, which are regulated by the federal government as the primary payor for nursing home care. The result is that, as more people with higher health care needs are relying on assisted living facilities, they may not be getting the care they need. This is due to lack of staff medical training and lack of government oversight. His advice to individuals and families when considering an assisted living facility is to explicitly ask the management about current and future care needs to get information about how the facility will handle the care needs of the individual who will be living there.