Colorado Assisted Living Association (CALA)

–by Thomas Kinrade, President

That’s a question that I asked myself six months ago. CALA had been around since 1982, it was conceived by a group of small assisted living providers on the Western Slope to “Assist, Promote, Inform and Educate” the assisted living community. CALA has had its moments of greatness, hosting some great conferences and working for the betterment of the assisted living community. During 2009 something exciting started to happen. A few providers and some associate members looking for a catalyst for promoting the assisted living community discovered CALA again.

I was a member of CALA in the past and when I was approached to become a member again I asked myself this question: “What’s in it for me?” I’m sure that’s a question that we all have asked and that’s okay because I won’t expect anyone to join an organization or invest in a project that didn’t have a return. With that in mind, I ask you these questions:

Have you ever wondered?

• Why is the CDPHE doing what it is?
• Do you know what really happened at the state ALF advisory meeting?
• Do you know what the surveyors are looking for this month, week or year?
• Have you ever wondered when that rule was changed?
• Do you know what is happening in the State and/or Federal Government and how it affects you?
• Do you know why Medicaid rates are being cut?
• Have you wondered how or when a rule got passed and why you weren’t aware of it?

Maybe you’re just looking for answers to questions like:

• Where can I get more training for my staff?
• How can I get more residents?
• How do I get a web site?
• What’s the latest technology available for assisted living homes?
• What are Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin and how can I use them?
• What other ideas are out there that could help my business?
• How can I cut cost and save money?
• Who can I call for advice or just to bounce some ideas off of?

 Are you frustrated with what you see as problems with the assisted living communities?

• Do you have new ideas that would make all of our communities better?
• Are you driven to make life better for our aging population?
• Do you have skills and talents that are going untapped?

 If any of those questions or other questions like them have ever crossed your mind then, at the risk of sounding pushy, you need CALA. CALA is a community that is coming together to help each other to Assist, Inform, Promote and Educate.

CALA needs you:

We at CALA continue to ask “How do we deliver more value and how do we show the value we currently offer to our members?” CALA represents only assisted living communities and associates that serve those communities; we have no paid employees.  Everything that CALA does for your community is done by folks just like you. We know that you have talents, skills and ideas that we can use, become a member and if you’re a member become a leader.

(Letter from the President article from the CALA Newsletter-January 2010 issue)

Is there a happy time to see a surveyor? For the almost 200 attendees at CALA’s “You Too Can Do What Surveyors Do” presentation on September 28th, it was informative, proactive and based on many smiles and a few laughs, a relatively happy time. It feels so good to be proactive. The prospect of fewer, preventable deficiencies saves us time in plan of correction, and saves the surveyor time through writing fewer deficiencies. To be able to ask surveyors questions in a hotel conference room is much preferred to asking questions in a survey exit interview.

After attending countless seminars and conferences, I know how brain numbing a full day can be with a presenter. For me, the disengagement begins when the presenter meanders off the path of relevance or hammers the same point a thousand times. Thankfully, Terry Zamell and Dee Reeda kept the topics relevant and interesting. The tools that they presented were very useful. My staff came home with many ideas to implement defense against deficient practices in the future. Sending two other administrators from my facility was beneficial to my operation, their education, and to the quality of care at my home.

This is just the beginning of what CALA can do for your assisted living residence. Many more local and state-wide educational offerings are being created for your personal enrichment. Continuing education is so very important to all of us. It is especially important when regulations change. We must continue a dialogue with other providers and the state regulatory bodies to ensure clarity, and to eliminate surprises. Additionally, the event was an amazing opportunity to network with other providers. Many other agencies attended as well. I had conversations with vendors, ombudsmen, and hospice providers, as well as fellow facility operators. The large and small, corporate and private, urban and rural all came together to learn from each other. Community and network is an important aspect of what CALA is, and what CALA does.

Many stepped forward to commit to helping with committees and to serve on regional or state-wide boards for CALA. It is clear that we are moving toward common goals: To fight for the things we need to care for our residents in this cloudy, volatile, healthcare environment. Join us in our fight to improve insurance reimbursement, strike down unnecessary regulation, and protect the good reputation of our industry throughout the state. Join us with membership, participation, and through lending your gifts to the improvement of our industry.

September 1, 2009 Provider Reimbursement Changes

How many Assisted Living providers can handle ANOTHER 1.5% decrease?  The Medicaid rate started at $49.01/day this year, then decreased to $48.03 on July 1, 2009.  Now we have another 1.5% decrease which brings us down to $47.31.  That is a total decrease of $1.70 per day per bed and although it doesn’t sound like a lot, to many ALR owners, it’s HUGE!

Let’s just do some math… $1.70 X 365 days = $620.50.  Then multiply that by the number of Medicaid beds (and many have 80-100% medicaid).  So for a 20 bed facility, that is $12,410.00/year.  For a 60 bed, it is $37,230/year.

So what happens when rates are cut?  Owners have to cut corners somewhere.  Regulations don’t really allow for cuts in staffing.  Perhaps those 24 hour snack availability regs that came out recently could be cut?  Regulations are requiring more and more of owners… more staff, more training, more services. and yet the state continues to cut their pay.  Who suffers in the end?  The residents.  The residents who won’t be going to that extra outing, because  the budget won’t stretch.  The residents who won’t be getting those extra snacks or new paint in their rooms or new linens, or other things which will be cut out of the budget.

This is outrageous!  We need to stand together!  Many of the ALR owners in this state have dedicated their lives to helping people who are less fortunate by accepting Medicaid clients.  Many private pay ALR owners base their rates according to Medicaid reimbursements.  How many ALR’s will be forced to go out of business causing Medicaid clients to move or perhaps even become  homeless?

Call your legislators today!  If the government can bail out the banks and car manufacturers, surely they can afford to let ALR’s continue to survive, maybe even prosper a little so that residents can live better lives.