Addressing Medicaid rates key to minimum staffing mandate: study

Requiring nursing homes to spend a specific share of revenues on direct care alone won’t guarantee that facilities are “adequately” staffed, a new study finds.

Rather, researchers who reviewed spending and staffing data from more than 12,000 nursing homes found that a minimum hourly staffing requirement is more likely to increase direct care.

Still, because of different state Medicaid rates that drive wide variations in staff spending, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may be hard-pressed to develop a minimum staffing rule that is both effective and widely accepted without providing additional federal funding.