Those who are living in senior facilities should not be charged for discontinued or paused programs/services/access.
When a facility, by their own choice, or at the direction of state or federal agencies, eliminates, pauses, or substantially decreases access, programming and/or services that are included in the their marketing and rental contract agreement, they may not continue to charge the resident for said services. Rent rates shall be immediately pro-rated accordingly, for the duration of the withheld access, program, and service. Renters rights shall be upheld and residents shall not be prevented from coming and going as necessary, nor should they be threatened with confinement upon return if they do leave.
Violation of this should result in substantial punitive fees, harsh licensing corrections, and all refunds to all affected individuals.
The problem this solves: my grandparents, and millions of others, were denied over 70% of advertised amenities and services during -and after “Covid” lockdowns, yet they were still billed over $7400 each month while being confined to a 600 square feet apt and eating cold, soggy meals out of styrofoam take-out boxes. Without financial repercussions, some facilities were keeping their residents from living the lifestyle for which they were being charged. In many cases, this became predatory in nature, bleeding our elderly of their hard earned savings in exchange for very little- and controlling their movements and travel in/out of the building.
This should never happen again. If any type of pause is needed, so be it, and subsequently, compensate accordingly. Logically, with the financial motivation detailed above, the pause in services would only take place if necessary and would also come to an end in a much more reasonable time frame. Our elderly are not simply a cash machine for facilities nor are they children. They should be treated with much more respect and given much more autonomy than they were during that time.