Public policy engagement takes center stage as Maggie Elehwany speaks to senior living leaders and emerging health policy professionals
Argentum’s public policy work was on the road and in the classroom this month, underscoring how critical advocacy is to the future of senior living, both at the federal level and within the states.
Elevating Senior Living Voices in Georgia
On October 23, Argentum’s Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Maggie Elehwany, was invited to speak at the Georgia Senior Living Association (GSLA) Conference and Trade Show in Savannah.
GSLA delivered an impressive program this year, drawing more than 650 attendees from across the state. The 2025 conference theme, “Connected,” honored the relationships that drive the work of senior living leaders every day, connections with residents and families, with policymakers, and with each other. That spirit lined up directly with Elehwany’s message: policy is personal, and federal advocacy matters because it directly shapes the resources, flexibility, and support that senior living communities rely on to serve older adults.
Elehwany spoke to attendees about the need for federal engagement on issues that affect care delivery, workforce, financing, and regulatory stability. She shared how Argentum is working in Washington to make sure the voice of senior living is heard and why operators cannot afford to sit out of that conversation.
As part of the program, GSLA presented its Legislature of the Year Award to Senator Benjamin L. Watson. Sen. Watson is a board-certified internal medicine physician with a concentration in geriatric care, and his recognition reflects a growing understanding in state legislatures that senior living is an essential part of the long-term care continuum. Honoring a policymaker with deep experience in geriatric medicine underscores how aligned the industry is with leaders who understand aging not just as a policy topic, but as a lived reality for millions of families.
The message in Savannah was clear: connections are powerful, and organized advocacy is how those connections turn into action.
Shaping the Next Generation of Health Policy Leaders
Just two days earlier, on October 21, Elehwany also served as a guest presenter for doctorate students at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) as part of the university’s annual Health Policy Seminar in Washington, D.C.
The seminar is designed to give advanced students a direct view into how federal health policy is made, negotiated, and implemented. Over the course of the program, students travel to Washington to meet with federal health agencies and health professional organizations, and to study the structure and function of the national health policy process.
Elehwany led a session and policy discussion focused on federal health policy and the importance of advocacy, not as an abstract concept, but as a professional responsibility. She walked through how decisions at the federal level influence care models, workforce pipelines, funding streams, and access to services across the entire aging services ecosystem, including senior living.
As part of the seminar, students are required to conduct their own field visit to either a Congressional office, a health-related federal agency, or a national health organization. That experience gives them a front-row view of how policy gets shaped and by whom. By engaging directly with future health policy leaders at this stage in their careers, Argentum is helping embed senior living in the broader health policy conversation, not as an afterthought but as a core setting of care and support for older adults.
Why This Work Matters
Taken together, these two engagements, one with state leaders and providers, one with future national policy professionals, reflect a central truth: advocacy for senior living has to happen everywhere.
In Georgia, the conversation was about mobilizing today’s leaders to speak with one voice. In Washington, D.C., it was about preparing tomorrow’s leaders to understand that senior living is part of America’s long-term care infrastructure and must be included in policy decisions.
Argentum’s public policy team is continuing to build those bridges, connecting operators and caregivers to lawmakers, connecting state priorities to federal action, and connecting future decision-makers to the realities of caring for seniors. That’s how change happens.
How You Can Get Involved
Everyone in this industry has a role and here are just a few ways that you can get involved.
- You can take part in Washington, D.C. for Argentum’s Public Policy Institute (PPI), March 10–11, 2026, to directly engage with federal policymakers and help tell the story of senior living.
- You can schedule a community tour with your lawmakers so they can see firsthand what quality care looks like, meet your teams, and understand the impact of their decisions.
- And you can contribute to the Advocacy Fund, which fuels Argentum’s ability to fight for meaningful, sustained policy solutions.
Advocacy is not something “the policy team” does, it’s something all of us do, together.