Happy New Year LeadingAge Missouri Members!
While that’s an appropriate salutation for the first Missouri Messenger of 2025, we also hope all LA MO members and their residents (and families of both!) enjoyed a blessed Holiday Season! LA MO can never express enough admiration or appreciation for the efforts members make to ensure the Holidays are special for those in your care! Just as your mission is to serve them, ours is to serve you. Together we will continue to make a difference in the lives of older Missourians in the New Year!
Predictably, today’s Perspective is shaped by goals for 2025. We intend to make LA MO membership more valuable and to grow your association in both size and influence. How we tackle that tall order will be significantly informed by two separate groups of important people – your Board of Directors and the Missouri General Assembly.
The Board convenes in Columbia (LA MO’s 1969 birthplace!) in early February to consider input gained from a member survey and key stakeholder interviews, an analysis of LA MO operations, and an aging services environmental scan. With that foundation, and expert facilitation, the Board will map LA MO’s future. We look forward to sharing the new strategic plan with you at the Annual Conference at the Lake in May! And we’re excited to begin building a bigger, better LA MO for you!
Growth is important and LA MO significantly grew membership in 2024 by offering excellent advocacy, education, information, and services to member prospects. But we lost members in 2024 too – some to financial exigency, others to changed ownership, and one for a reason that will be carefully considered during strategic planning… “we are a small organization. The dues are just too much for what we get in return.”
Today LA MO is dominated by provider systems that deliver a range of aging services at multiple sites. But LA MO’s roots are in small, single site senior care providers. We will assess everything to ensure we can ably and economically serve all providers. Our new dues model – reflected in membership invoices you recently received – will help. Dues are now based wholly on member Program Service Revenue – LA MO dues will moderate when a member struggles and expand when a member grows.
All of LA MO’s new members are assisted living and residential care communities. This is no surprise given marketplace growth for this care concept. And, while LA MO has always delivered member value for ALF and RCF members, we plan to expand services and advocacy for them appropriate for their growth in the marketplace and within LA MO.
The Missouri General Assembly convenes next week with a new Governor and Administration assuming leadership the week after. Both the new Administration and General Assembly are preparing to hit the ground running, and we look forward to working with both to advance policies that make a difference for aging services providers. But just as we needed member insight and input for our strategic planning, LA MO needs your ideas for positive policy change. What could make a difference for your mission?
Without question, LA MO will be educating new legislators and fighting for higher SNF and HCBS Medicaid reimbursement. But an expected tight budget is likely to constrain rate increases. Accordingly, it’s a good year to advance policy initiatives that don’t cost the State money. All members are encouraged to offer ideas to improve the delivery of aging services. Are there requirements that are past their useful life? Are there more efficient ways to deliver senior care, which demand legal permission or reform? Let us know what will make a difference in how you serve older Missourians.
2025 promises to be a year of introspection and advancement for LA MO and its members. A renewed commitment to our mission of member service, coupled with new strategic directions will position LA MO to meet new member prospects and new policymakers with fresh vision. We invite and welcome your participation and support to enable LA MO to better serve you and others like you.
Yours in service,
Bill