Image of nurses' hands at computer keyboard

The Senate’s failure to pass Medicaid relief just has further revved up the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living for their “Driving for Quality Care” RV tour. It starts on Tuesday.

Though the tour had been planned for some months, it is now “perfectly timed to ramp up pressure on our lawmakers” to pass an extension of Medicaid assistance to states, AHCA/NCAL President and CEO Bruce Yarwood, said in a statement.

The tour will start on Tuesday and make its way through 40 states before coming to a stop in Long Beach, CA—just in time for the agency’s annual convention, held Oct 10-13. Along the way, AHCA/NCAL representatives will hold events at nursing facilities where members of Congress and state legislators will be on hand to discuss long-term care issues. AHCA/NCAL has also prepared a petition for residents and member facilities to sign urging Congress to act on a six-month extension of additional Medicaid assistance for states.

A temporary 6.2% increase in states federal medical assistance percentage is set to expire at the end of the year after failing to garner enough votes in the Senate to block a Republican filibuster. These funds are the “critical safety net protecting seniors and the jobs of the frontline caregivers who make a qualitative difference in patient outcomes,” Yarwood said. More information about the RV tour soon will be available at http://www.drivingforqualitycare.com.