Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Staffing Study to Inform Minimum Staffing Requirements for Nursing Homes

In February 2022, President Biden announced a comprehensive set of reforms to improve the safety and quality of nursing home care, hold nursing homes accountable for the care they provide, and make the quality of care and facility ownership more transparent so that potential residents and their loved ones can make informed care choices.[1]  One key initiative within the President’s strategy is to establish new minimum staffing requirements so every nursing home has sufficient staff who are adequately trained to provide the safe and quality care residents need. Evidence has shown that adequate staffing is closely linked to the quality of care residents receive.[2] The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) has highlighted and exacerbated the long-standing staffing challenges experienced in many facilities, creating an urgent need to address this issue for the well-being of all individuals residing in our nation’s federally certified nursing homes and the workers who care for them.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has launched a multi-faceted approach aimed at determining the minimum level and type of staffing needed to enable safe and quality care in nursing homes. This effort includes issuing a Request for Information (which occurred earlier this year as a part of the Fiscal Year 2023 Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule[3]) and conducting a new study. The information obtained through these efforts will inform future proposed rulemaking on minimum staffing requirements, which CMS plans to issue in Spring 2023. Facilities will be held accountable if they fail to meet this standard.