SNF operators should monitor the status of OIG’s stated intent to increase enforcement using PBJ staffing data, which is actively shared with state survey agencies to flag facilities with potentially insufficient staffing levels.
OIG signals new focus on nursing homes
The federal Office of Inspector General recently published its “OIG’s Top Unimplemented Recommendations: Solutions To Reduce Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in HHS Programs.”
In the Top Recommendations, OIG stated that it is aggressively focusing on staffing as a way to improve infection control, suggesting OIG’s belief or assumption that staffing shortages are causing infection control problems.
— McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, February 17, 2023
Federal Bill Aims to Aid Nursing Home Labor Shortage with TNA Program Extension
A bill that aims to address staffing shortages in nursing homes by allowing temporary nursing aides (TNAs) awaiting certification to remain in the workforce past typical time limits was reintroduced on Wednesday.
Sponsored by Republican U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie of Kentucky and Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, the bill supports flexibilities implemented during the Public Health Emergency, including a waiver to allow TNAs to continue working without certification beyond the limit of four months.
— Skilled Nursing News, January 25, 2023
States get needed nurse aide waiver relief but workers’ fates uncertain
Skilled nursing providers in at least 15 states averted the loss of thousands of frontline workers Thursday, when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services let expire a blanket national waiver allowing the use of non-certified nurse aides.
Those states had been awarded new waivers through an application process, meaning they demonstrated testing backlogs or other delays that kept providers from converting a large share of temporary nurse aides into permanent certified nurse assistants
— McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, October 7, 2022
