Federal regulation of assisted living is an unserious proposal
July 20, 2026 | Uncategorized
Brendan Williams
McKnight’s Senior Living (July 19, 2026)
Asserting that assisted living communities “receive at least $12 billion a year in taxpayer funding,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is now leading the charge by some Democrats on the Senate Special Committee on Aging to enact federal regulation of assisted living communities, issuing a press release.
At the outset, as reported by McKnight’s Senior Living, its worth noting that Gillibrand and her colleagues are reacting to a Government Accountability Office report. That publication, in fact, found that “combined federal and state Medicaid spending for services provided in assisted living facilities was at least $6.2 billion” in 2024, not $12 billion. (Spoiler alert: Adding in Medicare spending by home health and hospice providers caring for assisted living residents brings the amount to $12 billion.)