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A Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regulation effectively proposing new Medicaid taxes could “lead to a major financial burden” for continuing care retirement communities and residents — and even the closure of skilled nursing units within CCRCs — in 18 states, according to the heads of LeadingAge and the National Continuing Care Residents Association, who sent a letter this week to members of Congress in the potentially affected states.

To simplify a complicated back-and-forth of the amount over the past few years, a medical expense deduction floor of 7.5% has been extended through 2020. That is to say, the floor will not revert to 10%, as was set to happen for tax year 2019.
Specifically, this change means that this tax filing season, folks whose eligible medical expenses exceeded 7.5% of their adjusted gross income (found on your tax return) can deduct the amount of those expenses that exceeds 7.5% of that income, assuming they otherwise qualify for the deduction.

There are seven key items to focus on when considering a continuing care retirement community’s finances.

Federal legislators have introduced the Essential Caregivers Act (H.R. 3733), which would allow long-term care residents (or their representative) to designate up to two (2) essential caregivers who could continue to visit to provide care and support during any future health emergency. The legislation recognizes that the absence of family visitation and support has taken a devastating toll on long-term care residents during the COVID crisis and strikes a balance between resident rights and safety precautions. The legislation would apply to skilled nursing facilities, nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding. If you want to support this legislation, contact your congressional Representative and ask them to co-sponsor it. You can find your Representative here: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative .