Advocacy

CoCares developed as a community of voices united in advocating for a healthy and robust long term care sector able to support providers and a caregiving workforce in the mission to provide high quality care to our nation's frail elderly. While America's elderly requiring long term care receive their care in skilled nursing facilities and assisted living around the country, myriad businesses and organizations are the foundation for the business of long term care. The long term care sector contributes to $371.9 billion or 2.7% of national economic activity.

As Congress moves quickly to overhaul our nation's healthcare system, we urge policymakers to avoid cuts to Medicare payments in long term care and to provide adequate Medicaid reimbursement, the latter of which is chronically underfunded. Congress must understand if it approves drastic reductions in funding for long term care, its actions have a domino effect far beyond skilled nursing facilities and assisted living residences. The reverberating impact on the long term care sector will spill into local economies where often long term care is the largest employer.

CoCares advocates for smart and sound long term care public policy that meets the needs of a growing population of elderly entering the long term care system with more complex conditions. Helping to support that system are the community businesses and organizations providing key services to long term care providers that generate $19 billion in state and local taxes and $37 billion in federal taxes.

We urge you to write your federal legislators today and tell them that additional Medicare cuts to long term care will devastate our long term care sector, threaten jobs and the viability of local economies. Let them know it is essential to support a long term care sector that contributes to our nation's economy and helps make quality care possible for our nation's elderly.