Letter to The Honorable Alex Azar, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services - Daines Urges HHS to Provide Relief for Montana Senior Living Facilities

Letter

Dear Secretary Azar:
Thank you for your leadership during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. I am
particularly thankful for your leadership in the Administration to provide support to older
Americans, who as you know, are the most vulnerable to this virus. As the Administration
continues to respond to this crisis, I encourage you to include senior living providers in a future
allocation from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund (PHSSEF).
Senior living communities in Montana and throughout the U.S. provide home- and
community- based care across independent living, assisted living, memory care, and continuing
care retirement communities. While they often care for similar populations as nursing homes,
with more than half of all residents over the age of 85 and often suffering comorbidities, these
communities that are not primarily supported by Medicaid funds have by and large not received
financial relief as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Communities are facing increased costs for personal protective equipment, testing,
infection control, and labor to meet the demands. Many of these costs skyrocket if a resident or
staff member tests positive for the virus. The healthcare heroes in these communities are on the
front lines of this crisis, and while they continue to do everything they can to care for our
nation's seniors and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, they need financial relief. I appreciate the
allocations that the Administration has already made to numerous healthcare providers in
Montana and throughout this country, and believe it is critical that we ensure all communities
caring for our most vulnerable have access to these much-needed funds.
The need to help all facilities that serve our vulnerable seniors has become clear in
Montana, as outbreaks of COVID-19 in senior care have been almost exclusively in assisted
living, the very type of facility that has been largely left out of PHSSEF support up to this point.
Even the latest funding announcement designed to reach Medicaid providers, including assisted
living facilities, left out many of our Montana assisted living facilities. All of these facilities are
impacted by this health emergency and need support to keep our vulnerable seniors safe.
The Administration has the authority under the PHSSEF to provide federal support to these
communities and the seniors they serve, and I respectfully request your support of including
these communities in the next allocation from this fund to help defray some of the increased costs
associated with caring for seniors as a result of COVID-19.
Thank you for your attention to this critical issue. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
STEVE DAINES
United States Senator

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