Senators push CMS to issue – and fund – federal nursing home staffing mandate soon

A group of Senators is urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to proceed as quickly as possible with setting a minimum staffing mandate for nursing homes. In a nod to skilled care operators, the seven Democrats also urged the agency to look at how a new rule would impact providers with a “more limited workforce.”

Led by Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), the senators said they “appreciate” CMS’ work to date “to promote safety and quality” throughout the sector. However, the vagueness of federal regulations requiring 24-hour, licensed nursing care proved “insufficient” during the pandemic.

Casey chairs the Senate Special Committee on Aging and has long supported minimum staffing requirements, ostensibly to improve the quality of care for nursing home residents. Other signers of the letter are Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).