Providers, states grapple with billion-dollar needs ahead of federal staffing minimum

Worries about the cost of a potential nursing home staffing mandate are mounting among provider organizations across the country as more try to pinpoint just how much of an investment they’ll need to meet new requirements.

In Pennsylvania, which has 681 nursing homes, it could cost providers more than $360 million more annually to staff at 4.1 hours per patient day, using calculations modeled on a 4.1-hour staffing rule adopted by Washington, DC, in 2012.

That was the staggering assessment Jonathan Hansen, a principal in CliftonLarsonAllen’s Baltimore office, delivered to attendees at the LeadingAge Pennsylvania finance conference Tuesday.

Earlier this year, CliftonLarsonAllen conducted a study on behalf of the American Health Care Association and estimated providers would have to spend an additional $10 billion more per year nationally and hire more than 187,000 new workers to meet requirements of a 4.1 hour standard.