Nursing homes across the country are anxiously waiting for the federal government to approve temporary nurse aide (TNA) waivers just days before the program is set to expire.
Massachusetts, Washington, Indiana and Louisiana have had their statewide waiver requests approved so far, but more than 10 states were still waiting for further information to be able to apply for the waiver as of Monday, according to the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL).
An AHCA/NCAL spokesperson declined to share which states were waiting.
Issued at the beginning of the pandemic, the 1135 waiver temporarily allowed, among other things, non-certified nurse aides to work for longer than four months as they prepare for their exams.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced back in April that it had planned to phase out the waiver, among others tied to the public health emergency (PHE). Anyone hired prior to June 7 would have until Oct. 7 to meet testing requirements, CMS had said.
But in August CMS issued updated guidance that provided opportunities for individual facility and statewide or county waivers to get additional time to certify TNAs when testing and training barriers were apparent.
The waivers will only last as long as the PHE remains in place, according to CMS. The goal is to grant the waivers for “as short as possible” a time period.
AHCA/NCAL has called on CMS to reinstate this particular waiver, arguing that TNAs provided much needed care to seniors throughout the pandemic and “now they are on pins and needles waiting to hear if they’ll have a job come Friday.”
“At a time when the Administration intends to propose new staffing regulations in nursing homes, it is ironic that they are ending a program that helps address staffing shortages,” President and CEO Mark Parkinson said in a statement.
About half of states are currently experiencing CNA training and/or testing backlogs, according to AHCA.
Legislation has also been brought forth by members of Congress to extend the TNA flexibilities put in place during Covid.
The Building America’s Health Care Workforce Act was introduced in May by U.S. Reps. Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania and David B. McKinley, P.E. of West Virginia.
The bill would give them an additional 24 months following the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. TNAs would also be able to apply their on-the-job experience and training toward the 75-hour federal training requirement to become a CNA, which is currently allowed in some states, if the bill passed.
Companies featured in this article:
AHCA, AHCA/NCAL, American Health Care Association, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS
