With only 19% of facilities currently meeting the new minimums and phase-in timelines underway, operators should closely monitor the ongoing legal challenge and any congressional action that could alter or rescind the requirements.
Do No Harm — A Key to Staffing
“Today’s nursing homes are literally yesterday’s hospitals, and the medical needs of today’s highly complex nursing home population (even among those with the lowest acuity) must be taken into consideration when determining appropriate staffing requirements… If the federal government is not allowed to perform its statutory duty to regulate nursing homes, vulnerable older adults will be harmed.”
— McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, November 13, 2024
Patient Advocates Say New Nursing Home Staffing Standards Don’t Go Far Enough
“According to an analysis from KFF released April 22, only about one in five (19%) nursing facilities meet the new minimum staffing standards… While we applaud President Biden’s dedication to resident safety and dignity, the final CMS rule falls significantly short of what numerous studies have indicated is necessary for basic clinical care.”
— Association of Health Care Journalists, July 2024
Who’s Easier to Beat Up on Than Nursing Homes? No One
“Remember that the first mention of the staffing mandate did not come from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, within the administration, but rather directly from the White House in a memo… And if a nursing home group follows through with plans to sue to stop the rule, guess who’s liable to look bad? Not the guy looking for votes come November.”
— McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, April 19, 2024
“The Long Term Care Community Coalition… challenged prevailing notions that nursing homes are over-regulated and underpaid, dismissing them as mere ‘myths’… That remedy consists of: instituting ‘meaningful accountability’ via more frequent surveys and more rigorous enforcement… and ensuring ‘safe, sufficient, and humane staffing levels’ by enforcing existing staffing rules, establishing additional staffing standards, mandating a 24/7 RN presence, and ‘guaranteeing competitive wages and benefits for nursing staff.'”
— McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, March 25, 2024
A Cadre of Lobbyists Fight Nursing Home Staffing Rules at the Federal Level
“The U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, on a nearly party-line vote, passed H.R. 7513, an industry-inspired bill that would forbid CMS from implementing any staffing requirement, now and forever… The AHCA has done everything in its power to either prohibit or restrict CMS’ proposed staffing mandate, and taxpayers paid Mr. Parkinson and his cadre of lobbyists to defeat or reduce requirements that would protect our seniors from harm.”
— The Gazette, March 24, 2024
An Alternative View on Anti-Staffing Mandate Legislation
“H.R. 7513 effectively obstructs future initiatives aimed at establishing minimum staffing requirements in nursing homes nationwide… The National Consumer Voice conducted interviews with more than 120 nursing home residents… an overwhelming 88% of residents indicated that their facilities lacked the necessary staff to meet residents’ needs adequately. Additionally, 87% reported that understaffing affects them on a daily or weekly basis.”
— McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, March 15, 2024
Staffing for Success: President Biden’s Initiative and the Call for Holistic Healthcare Reform
“In the tri-state area of Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., data show that more than 330,000 nursing home shifts go unfilled each year because of state-specific regulations that prevent CNAs from working across state lines. This equates to an astounding 2.5 million hours of much-needed patient care that are lost each year.”
— McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, March 06, 2024
