The Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association (PALTmed, CALTCM’s national affiliate) was well represented at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association House of Delegates, held June 6–9 in Chicago. I had the honor of serving with Dr. Leslie Eber, current PALTmed president, as our delegates. This year marked an important milestone for the organization: after several years with one delegate and one alternate delegate, PALTmed was granted two voting delegate seats for 2026. 

Senate Bill 1088, sponsored by the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (CCCC) and authored by Sen. Catherine Blakespear of Encinitas (D-38), is working its way through the Senate with very little opposition.  This bill will improve processes around POLST in several ways.

For many years, the Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association (PALTmed) has sent a contingent of leaders (officers and board members) to Washington, D.C. for Capitol Hill visits every autumn.  This year for the first time, our advocacy efforts were opened up to the general membership, and over 50 PALTmed members, representing constituents of 25 states and the District of Columbia, attended the first annual PALTmed Advocacy Summit on October 27-28, 2025.

The Policy & Professional Services Committee remains focused on watching, reviewing, and disseminating information garnered from past, current, and upcoming State & Federal legislative efforts and partner organizations. The PPSC discusses and weighs the potential impacts from proposed and State & Federal bills  facing the long-term care industry, which includes Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly and Skilled Nursing Facilities to safeguard quality of care for residents.

The Public Policy Committee for CALTCM continues its efforts to “make a difference.” With nursing homes continuing to be in the news in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are committed to assuring that our clinical voice is heard.  CALTCM’s Board recently approved letters to Secretary Becerra and Administrator Brooks-LaSure related to appropriate staffing and transparency. There would “appear” to be a lot of controversy related to staffing issues, but CALTCM’s position is based on the clinical experience and evidence that inadequate staffing is associated with poor care.  To minimize this in the face of staffing shortages does a disservice to the residents and the staff who care for them under less than ideal conditions.  CMS recently requested comments on a New Proposed Rule on Nursing Home Ownership Transparency, we submitted our comments, please click here to view.  These efforts continue what we started over two years ago in California that helped lead to the passage of SB 650.

State Alzheimer’s Disease Advocacy Day was on March 3, 2022. Following is the list of important bills that impact our patients living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. They have been advocated by our Alzheimer’s Disease Society. I was fortunate to be part of it. This is the summary of these Bills.

Those of us who care for vulnerable older adults who live in congregate settings are all