Recent Updates from Argentum

This information is provided by national senior living association partner, Argentum.

Argentum Seeks Flexibility in Latest Round of Facilities Guidelines.  Argentum submitted comments last week on the Facilities Guidelines Institute 2026 FGI Facility Code, relating to minimum ratio of single and double occupancy rooms, and minimum square footage of dining space.

The 2026 code seeks to set a standard ratio of 80% of residents housed in single-resident rooms and a maximum of 20% of residents in double-resident rooms. Argentum called for the removal of this requirement, noting that there is no data to support the proposed ratios and that doing so could result in providers participating in Medicaid Assisted Living Waivers for the Elderly, Medicaid State Plan Amendments to discontinue participation.

Another requirement calls for a minimum of 25 square feet per resident in dining halls. Argentum noted that there is no data to support the proposed minimum space requirement and doing so would hamper the ability for communities to design alternative dining settings to meet resident preferences, such as resident dining pods located at several locations throughout a community or smaller, including neighborhood dining areas offering more intimate home-like environments, instead of a single general purpose dining hall.

The Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) Facility Code provides guidelines for the design and construction of healthcare facilities, including residential and assisted living communities in the United States. The Joint Commission, federal agencies, and state authorities use the Guidelines and FGI Facility Code when reviewing, approving, and financing facility project plans; surveying, licensing, certifying, or accrediting newly constructed facilities; or developing their own codes. A new edition of the FGI Guidelines/FGI Facility Code is published every four years based on a three-year revision cycle that offers two opportunities for public comment. The revisions process will commence this Fall with a final version voted on next November, with final guidelines published in Spring 2026 for states to review and implement. 

Legislation Enacted for Dementia Research and Funding.  President Biden signed two bills into law last Tuesday, October 1 related to dementia research and funding: S. 133, the “NAPA Reauthorization Act,” to extend the National Alzheimer’s Project and the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services; and S. 134, the “Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act,” which requires direct transmittal of the annual National Institutes of Health budget estimate for the National Alzheimer’s Project.

The NAPA Reauthorization Act continues the National Alzheimer’s Project Act through 2035. NAPA established the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care and Services; it emphasizes the importance of healthy aging and risk reduction for Alzheimer’s disease. It was originally enacted in 2011 and was due to expire next year.

The Alzheimer’s Accountability Act continues to prioritize Alzheimer’s and dementia research funding at the National Institutes of Health by requiring the agency to continue to submit an annual professional judgment budget to Congress to ensure Alzheimer’s and dementia research is funded at levels necessary to achieve goals set out in the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease. It was originally enacted in 2014 and was due to expire next year.

Argentum applauds the Administration and Congress for coming together on these important bills. Assisted living plays a critical role in providing compassionate and appropriate care for older Americans living with Alzheimer’s, with the number of Americans living with Alzheimer's rapidly increasing. Today, an estimated 6.7 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's; by 2050, that number will grow to a projected 13.8 million, barring the development of medical breakthroughs to prevent or cure the disease.

New Health Care Workforce Bills Introduced in Congress.  Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have recently introduced several health care workforce bills:

• The Health Care Workforce Investment Act would award grants to establish, increase the availability of, and improve access to, qualified healthcare programs to increase and strengthen the healthcare workforce.
• The Direct Support Worker Training Reimbursement Act would allow providers to receive federal matching payments of up to 75% to facilitate care worker training.
• The Career Advancement for Direct Support Workers Act would establish new funding through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to help home care workers pursue education and training.
• The Mollie Baldwin Upskilling of Personal and Home Care Aides Act would establish HRSA funding to support home care career advancement demonstration projects. 

Argentum strongly supports efforts to meet the caregiving workforce that is needed across the health care system, but most particularly in long-term care with a demand for more than 20-million workers by the year 2040. We applaud Representatives Comer and McGarvey and Senators King and Casey for their newly introduced legislation.

Argentum is proud to administer the Healthcare Apprenticeship Expansion Program, working with more than thirty employers across 45 states in the training, development, and emergency aid support for nearly 8,000 workers, gaining skills as CNAs, caregivers, and lab technicians. Participants have benefitted from continuing education and career expansion opportunities, and employers have seen a marked increase in retention. Argentum is prepared to continue this trajectory with the support of meaningful, life-changing legislation like these bills and the SENIOR Act, and we call on Congress to advance these programs to meet our growing caregiving needs.