N.Y. Assisted Living Reform expected following five-year battle.

Five years in the making, New York's Assisted Living Reform Act finally needs only the signature of Gov. George Pataki.

The bill would put in place licensure requirements and a definition of "assisted living," which have met the approval of both the facility operators and resident advocates. It also defines uniform admission and discharge policies; strong consumer protections, state oversight; standard contract disclosures; and has a comprehensive "Resident's Bill of Rights."

In 120 days after Pataki signs the bill into law, expected as this issue went to press, an assisted living facility will mean an entity that provides or arranges for housing, on-site monitoring, and personal care services and/or home care services either directly or indirectly in a home-like setting to five or more adult residents unrelated to the assisted living provider.

Bill Ferris, the New York state legislative representative in the Albany office of AARP of New York State, said the most significant piece of the legislation is that it defined assisted living. "It was a big problem," he said, explaining that companies were creating facilities in which residents had few legal protections.

It also posed a problem, Ferris said, because insurance companies were selling long term care insurance "saying 'we cover licensed assisted living (facilities) in New York'" when none technically existed.

Lisa Newcomb, executive director of the Empire State Association of Adult Homes and Assisted Living Facilities, based in Clifton Park, N.Y., said that what passed the state assembly is better than previous versions. "Some of the earlier approaches, which we did not support, didn't address things we felt were important", she said, such as a uniform regulatory process, standards for all providers and insuring adequate protections across the models. "Previous attempts didn't address that as effectively as the legislation that ultimately passed does."

Asked what the shortcomings of the bill were, Newcomb said: "There weren't licensure fees (before), now there are." She added that she felt they were reasonable and necessary.

The bill calls for a 10-person task force appointed by the governor and state legislature to be created to make recommendations to the department of health (DOH) on matters that must be worked out in the regulation. Ferris emphasized the importance of this task force, "because a lot of the technical issues will be worked out in this group."

Licensure requirements include an enhanced assisted living certificate from the state's department of health to care for seniors "aging in place" and a special needs certificate to care for seniors with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia.

The bill calls for individual service plans to be worked out among the resident, the resident's physician and the LTC facility. These plans, developed for each resident upon admission, must account for the medical, nutritional, rehabilitation, functional, cognitive and other needs of the resident. They must be updated at least every six months.

Obtaining the higher levels of certification would allow facilities to care for those who are chronically in need of physical assistance to walk, climb or descend stairs, or dependent upon medical equipment and requiring more than intermittent assistance from medical personnel.

Currently unlicensed assisted living communities, also known as "look a likes," would also be required to become licensed adult care facilities and obtain all the appropriate state licenses. Those facilities that do not meet standards would have to prove to the DOH that they are good operators.

In a statement, Pataki said the new law will help seniors make informed decisions about their care and housing, encourage new development of much-needed assisted living residences across the state, and hold providers accountable for the services they provide to our loved ones."