A vast majority of nursing homes favor extending the public health emergency designation for Covid, and are concerned that they will be unable to meet a potential federal staffing minimum.
These views, expressed in a newly released survey by the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), come in the midst of a labor shortage despite widespread wage increases and hiring of temporary workers.
AHCA’s survey shows that about 80% of nursing homes are very concerned that they will be unable to meet a potential federal staffing minimum of 4.1 hours per resident day (HPRD) due to a labor shortage, rising inflation and higher operating costs.
More than 500 nursing home providers from across the United States participated in AHCA’s latest survey, which was conducted between Dec. 7 and Dec. 16.
“This survey shows that nursing homes are making every effort to address this ongoing labor crisis, but continue to struggle with finding caregivers,” said Holly Harmon, AHCA’s senior vice president of quality, regulatory and clinical services. “Government staffing mandates will not solve the core issue here. We need a concerted, collective effort with proper resources and incentives to help recruit more individuals to work in long term care.”
The survey also showed that over 80% of nursing homes surveyed wanted to extend the COVID-19 public health emergency even though only one-third of these nursing homes say they need “ongoing resources” in the plan to fight COVID-19. The public health emergency designation, which came with policy and financial assistance for the health care sector, was set to expire on Jan. 11 but is expected to be renewed this week.
Due to the public health emergency being in place, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) allowed skilled nursing facilities to waive the requirement for a 3-day inpatient hospital stay to qualify for Medicare coverage. AHCA agreed with this and also advocated for SNFs to continue to receive higher federal matching funds for state expenditures related to Medicaid as well as Medicaid policy flexibilities, especially the waiver for Medicaid redeterminations.
Back in December, the nursing home industry’s largest trade group released a joint report with CliftonLarsonAllen, stating that 191,000 nurses and nurse aides were needed at the annual cost of $11.3 billion in order for nursing homes to meet a staffing minimum of 4.1 HPRD. The report also concluded that nearly 60% of skilled nursing facilities were operating with negative margins while 94% of nursing homes said that they would be unable to comply with staffing minimums.
Other key findings of the latest AHCA survey include:
- 84% of nursing homes are currently facing moderate to high levels of staffing shortages.
- 96% of nursing homes find difficulty in hiring staff.
- 97% said the lack of interested or qualified candidates is a major obstacle to hiring new staff.
- More than nine out of 10 nursing home providers have increased wages and offered bonuses to try to recruit and retain staff.
- To adjust for staffing shortages, 78% have hired temporary agency staff.
AHCA represents more than 14,000 nursing homes and other long term care facilities across the country.
