Consumer Protection for Prospective Assisted Living Facility Residents: Gordian Knot or Solvable Problem?

Abstract

The consumer protection safety net for prospective assisted living facility residents and their caregivers is a work in progress and is filled with numerous potential pitfalls. Notwithstanding a recent deluge of recent state legislation, baselines in crucial areas remain erratic and confusing; in addition, useful factual information is hard to come by. Using a legal perspective, based on statutory and regulatory examples from different states and interviews with industry stakeholders, the author explores the causes of assisted living facilities choice problems, potential solutions, and the obstacles affecting these solutions.

KEYWORDS:

• assisted living
• assisted living facilities
• consumer protection
• long-term care
• skilled nursing facilities
• regulations

David R. Spiegel, Attorney, Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views of the Federal Trade Commission or its individual commissioners.

Notes

Mollica and his organization, the National Academy for State Health Policy, have published three separate assisted living regulatory compendiums for DHHS, beginning in 2002. The compendiums provide a valuable reference point for regulatory changes and issues involving ALFs.

Data in Mollica updated by author's independent research of web sites, March 2009.

Figure based on author's interviews with employees of facilities in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, April 2008.