GAO Releases Report Calling for More Assisted Living Oversight

On February 5, 2018, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report calling for greater oversight from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Medicaid Assisted Living programs. Specifically, GAO expressed concern over what it considered to be inconsistencies in how different state agencies report “critical incidents” which occur in assisted living programs. While critical incidents are not always caused by abuse or neglect and include a wide range of situations, they do include such unfortunate occurrences. To address these reportings gaps, GAO recommends that “CMS include clarifying state requirements for reporting program deficiencies and requiring annual reporting of critical incidents.” See a graph of types of incidents that some states report while others do not here. Read the 1 page summary of the report here, and the full report here. Additionally, members might be interested in this New York Times article regarding the report.

ANCOR is closely monitoring this situation and will keep members informed of new developments.