​The Senate Special Committee on Aging today held a hearing on assisted living regulatory issues in an attempt to gauge ways to improve oversight of such long term care facilities.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), a member of the committee, convened the hearing in the wake of newspaper reports detailing multiple violations at assisted living facilities around Florida.

Titled “Ensuring Quality and Oversight in Assisted Living,” witnesses included Barbara Edwards, director, Disabled & Elderly Health Programs Group, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; Robert Jenkens, director, Green House Project; and Martha Roherty, executive director, National Association of State Units on Aging.

The lead witness was a family member of a resident of an assisted living facility, which was licensed to care for people with mental disabilities, who drowned in a nearby pond.

Nelson said the questions concerning assisted living facilities have gone unanswered for many years, such as the lack of a national uniform definition of what an assisted living facility is.

He noted that while most assisted living facilities are providing high-quality care, the abuses uncovered by the Miami Herald in his home state are enough to prompt a review of how the sector is being policed.

"We have high-quality ALFs across the country, but even one case of abuse is too many," Nelson said.

He noted the regulation of assisted living facilities will only grow as the federal government continues to work with states and consumers to find alternatives to institutionalized care settings.

In a statement to the committee, a trade association representing assisted living providers said ensuring quality and proper oversight is a top priority, but pointed out that the incidents in Florida are not indicative of the high-quality care residents receive on a daily basis across the country.

“The failure of Florida’s regulatory system to ensure quality care in several of the state’s assisted living facilities, as documented in a Miami Herald series and during today’s hearing, is unacceptable and must be addressed,” a statement by the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) said.

“While what occurred in Florida is unacceptable, similar regulatory failures are not happening in the vast majority of other states. NCAL believes that states are the appropriate government bodies to regulate assisted living and that state regulation and enforcement should be strong and adequately funded,” NCAL said.

NCAL said many of the issues in Florida concern care for a population with mental health needs that is different from the typical senior assisted living population.

“Policymakers need to ensure that people with mental health needs are placed in facilities that can meet their needs and that adequate resources are provided for their care,” NCAL added.

The association also noted that many cases of substandard care involve residents receiving coverage under Florida’s Medicaid program, which has been the target of funding reductions impacting quality care.

“We understand that this is a difficult issue to raise in these times of budget austerity, but adequate funding for Medicaid and other programs serving low-income elderly and people with disabilities simply must become a priority, both at the state and national levels,” NCAL said.