AALC Newsletter - May 2021

May 5, 2021

A Message from the Executive Director

We need your help!

We have entered the final month of the legislative session. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) and the General Assembly are seeking to reform nursing home rates, including increasing the nursing home assessment. The last time the Illinois General Assembly passed an increased nursing home assessment in 2012, Supportive Living rates were delinked from nursing home rates resulting in devastating consequences for our communities as rates stagnated for 7 years. To learn more, click here.

Thanks to successful grass roots advocacy efforts from our SLP communities in 2019, Supportive Living rates were once again relinked to nursing home rates. We need your help again! We are asking all our Supportive Living Program communities to reach out now to their Illinois House and Senate legislators to remind them of how important it is for the Supportive Living Program rates to remain linked to nursing home rates.

Following these three steps, you can help us make a big difference!

Step 1: Locate your SLP community's state representative and senator by clicking here.

Step 2: Use the bullet points below to draft an email message to your representative and senator reminding them of how important it is to protect the Supportive Living Program.
Share a few sentences about your Supportive Living community, including your location, number of seniors/persons with disabilities, number of employees, and any other unique characteristics.
Explain that every single resident of a Supportive Living facility is eligible to be in a nursing home. Since supportive living rates are half of nursing home rates, the supportive living program saves the state of Illinois over $200 million per year
Remind them that the Supportive Living Program rates are linked at 54.3% of nursing home rates in Illinois state law. If nursing home rates are increased, and supportive living rates stay flat, the disparity between the two rates will grow driving seniors into higher-cost, higher-acuity settings.
Describe how not only is this undesirable for our seniors, but it will cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Highlight that the Illinois Supportive Living Program is a nationally recognized affordable model of care for seniors and people with disabilities.
Emphasize that If the General Assembly votes to increase the nursing home assessment, we ask that you please maintain the Supportive Living facility link, to protect the future of the program.
Encourage them to protect Illinois Supportive Living by protecting the link to nursing home rates!

Step 3: Let AALC know that you are joining us in our grassroots campaign to protect the link and tell us who you contacted by emailing us at: info@aalcillinois.org. We are keeping track of all legislative communications so our lobbying team can follow up.

Thank you for helping us protect the Supportive Living Program!

Let’s Get Vaccinated Campaign Wrap Up

Thanks to every Supportive Living community who participated in AALC’s Let’s Get Vaccinated campaign. You did such a great job of motivating your staff and residents to get vaccinated over the last several months. Because of your efforts, we are on the path to normalcy and a healthier life.

Since we had such an enthusiastic response to the campaign, we decided to draw a name to select our final prize winner.

Congratulations go out to: Evergreen Place Supportive Living. Their staff will get to enjoy a pizza party courtesy of AALC!

Visit COVID-19 Resources

Legislative Update

The Illinois House and Senate reconvened on Tuesday, May 4 at noon and will remain in Session until May 31, which is the scheduled adjournment of the spring session. The primary focus of the remaining session weeks will be legislative redistricting, the distribution of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) COVID relief funds and finalizing the fiscal year 2022 state budget. The AALC lobbying team is actively engaged on multiple fronts to protect and advance the interests of the Supportive Living Program so SLP’s can continue to improve quality and enhance the lives of the residents we serve.

AALC's Priorities to protect and advance the Supportive Living sector are to:

Keep rates linked to 54.3% of the nursing home rate.
Bring more than $80 million dollars in federal funding to Supportive Living through the “FMAP” bump of 10% included in the American Rescue Plan.
Dedicate a portion of the American Rescue Plan federal dollars coming to Illinois to long-term care facilities, including Supportive Living.

View Current SL Rates Effective April 1, 2021

AALC’s Life is a Journey has our Communities on the Move!

Since February, our Supportive Living Communities have been visiting the world virtually, learning about different customs and creating fun crafts while they “travel.” It has been fun to see all the places they are going and doing as they explore!

Some recent activities include:

While learning about the tradition of Siestas in the Mediterranean and Southern Europe, Heritage Woods of Batavia held a pajama day – complete with pajama games, a blanket raffle, and trivia!

When Heritage Woods of Yorksville decided to travel, they went to the Kentucky Derby in style by creating colorful derby hats covered in fresh

flowers to wear!

The community at Deer Path of Huntley recent trip to Japan was filled with fun facts, cherry blossoms, themed treats and making Japanese fans! Now on to their next stop…where will it be?

Keep traveling and keep posting!

#LifeisaJourney