§ 4600 — Legislative findings and purpose

§ 4600. Legislative findings and purpose. The dramatic increase in the\nnumbers of elderly people, especially those seventy-five years of age\nand older, coupled with the special housing and health care needs of\nthis growing segment of the population, requires the development of new\nand creative approaches to help ensure the care of older people in\nresidential settings of their own choice. If carefully planned and\nmonitored, life care communities have the potential to provide a\ncontinuum of care for older people that will provide an attractive\nresidential option for such persons, while meeting their long term care\nneeds for life. To ensure that the financial, consumer, and health care\ninterest of individuals who enroll in such communities will be\nprotected, such communities must be effectively managed and carefully\noverseen.\n The intent of the legislature, therefore, is to allow for the prudent\ndevelopment of life care communities. The legislature further intends\nto require that the relevant state agencies coordinate the regulation of\nsuch communities in order to ensure that there are adequate safeguards\nfor those elderly who become residents and to assist in the orderly\ndevelopment, of such communities. Although lead responsibility for the\ninteragency coordination of the regulation and establishment of such\ncommunities is vested in the department of health, the legislature does\nnot intend that such communities become or be perceived as primarily\nmedically-oriented facilities. The legislature intends, instead, that\nsuch communities be viewed as an attractive and innovative residential\nalternative for older New Yorkers who are seeking to maintain, to the\nextent possible, an independent and active life in a community in which\ntheir long-term care needs will be met.\n