Skilled Nursing News Archives | Page 2 Of 9

PBJ News Topic

Minimum Staffing Roundup

Nursing home minimum staffing mandate repealed after legal challenges

December 2, 2025

Our Take: The Biden-era federal minimum staffing mandate for nursing homes was officially repealed by HHS in December 2025, following a sequence of federal court losses and new Administration declining to continue legal…

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PBJ data driving increased scrutiny of nursing home staffing

November 1, 2025

Our Take: A growing ecosystem of tools and research are used by external stakeholders to evaluate nursing home staffing. Some recent uses include a new publicly available PBJ dashboard, updated U.S. News nursing…

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Iowa court vacates nursing hours per resident day requirements

August 27, 2025

Our Take: Federal courts in Iowa vacated the Biden-era nursing home staffing mandate’s most costly provisions that required 24/7 RN coverage and a minimum hours-per-resident-day of nurses. The court found that CMS exceeded…

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Analysis of selected nursing facilities’ use of Medicaid reimbursement for direct care compensation

August 1, 2025

Our Take: An HHS OIG data brief analyzed 26 nursing facilities and found that 17 increased spend on direct care compensation between 2018 and 2021 as a share of Medicaid reimbursement. Yet 12…

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CMS updates PBJ Policy Manual after three years with no changes

June 30, 2025

Our Take: CMS released PBJ Policy Manual Version 2.7 in June 2025. Updates include explicitly requiring that nursing hours be worked on-site to be included in PBJ, establishing a 22.5-hour daily maximum per…

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Congress considers how or whether to block staffing mandate

June 29, 2025

Our Take: From late 2024 through mid-2025, Congress mulled ways to repeal the minimum staffing mandate. A budget reconciliation strategy ended when the Senate Parliamentarian ruled an outright repeal violated the Byrd Rule.…

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Staffing mandate struck down in Texas court ruling

June 3, 2025

Our Take: The Northern District of Texas vacated the 24/7 registered nurse (RN) and daily staff-hours-per-resident day (HPRD) requirements. The Judge noted that staffing mandates are an improper attempt to contravene Congress’s careful…

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OIG looks at CMS use of staffing data to inform state oversight of nursing homes

May 29, 2025

Our Take: A May 2025 OIG evaluation found that CMS is not fully using PBJ data to help states identify nursing homes falling short of the required 8 hours of daily RN coverage.…

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Staffing mandate challenged by 20 state attorneys and provider associations in Iowa

April 29, 2025

Our Take: A coalition of 20 state attorneys general and provider groups challenged the staffing mandate in federal court, arguing CMS is exceeding its statutory authority. The District Court of Northern Iowa declined…

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New Administration signals repeal of staffing mandate

April 1, 2025

Our Take: From election night through early 2025, the Trump administration has consistently signaled that repealing the Biden-era nursing home staffing mandate is a near-term priority. New reporting indicates the White House may…

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PBJ News Topics

Read about PBJ regulations, research & news impacting SNFs

Most Recent PBJ News

Democratic bills revive minimum staffing debate

March 30, 2026

Minimum Staffing Roundup

Our Take: CMS repealed the nursing home minimum staffing rule in early 2026 following court defeats. Key provisions…

CMS nursing home funding campaign grows to $200 million

March 16, 2026

Minimum Staffing Roundup

Our Take: CMS has expanded its nursing home staffing campaign from $75 million to $200 million. Proposed with…

PBJ technical specifications changed

March 16, 2026

PBJ Policy & Enforcement

Our Take: CMS made minor updates to the PBJ data specification for uploaded PBJ files. Users can no…

The effects of labor unions on nurse staffing ratios

March 2, 2026

PBJ Research & Analysis

Our Take: A Health Affairs study of 321 newly unionized nursing homes from 2013 to 2021 found that…

Did state staffing mandates add direct care staff or hurt SNF finances?

March 2, 2026

PBJ Research & Analysis

Our Take: A study of 6,849 nursing homes in 22 states found that state minimum staffing mandates raised…

Medical Director compliance under increasing federal and state scrutiny

February 23, 2026

Latest PBJ News

Our Take: Federal regulators and state lawmakers are intensifying scrutiny of SNF medical directors. OIG is actively reviewing…

State Attorneys General ask CMS for staffing rule on for-profit SNFs

February 1, 2026

Minimum Staffing Roundup

Our Take: Following CMS’s repeal of a federal staffing mandate, attorneys general from 18 states are urging the…

SNF benchmarking report points to value based care, Medicare Advantage, and PBJ scrutiny

January 30, 2026

Latest PBJ News

Our Take: Plante Moran’s 2025 SNF Benchmarking Report analyzes data from over 12,000 skilled nursing facilities. They highlighted…

AHCA: Nursing homes added 40,700 jobs in 2025 as turnover, agency use declined

January 28, 2026

PBJ Research & Analysis

Our Take: AHCA/NCAL’s January 2026 Nursing Home Workforce Report shows that the nursing home sector added 40,700 jobs…

CMS Special Focus Facility program ‘crack down’ on troubled nursing homes ends use of staffing

January 28, 2026

PBJ Policy & Enforcement

Our Take: A CMS memo originally added staffing to the Special Focus Facility program but later shifted away…

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