Decades-long underfunding of nursing homes continues to create unnecessary hardships for aging Americans as access issues deepen. And yet, attempts to change the current financial system have fallen on deaf ears. In an effort to get the attention of lawmakers in Washington, LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan took aim with this view at […]
Category: Legislation
Legislation to block the nursing home minimum staffing proposal gained major traction this week, as a bill introduced on the Senate floor late Tuesday received more bipartisan support. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) led the way with the Protecting Rural Seniors’ Access to Care Act, which aims to stop the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services […]
Companion legislation to block the nursing home minimum staffing proposal is due to be introduced next week by Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) – more co-sponsors are anticipated, delaying the bill’s introduction to some time next week. That’s according to Sen. Fischer’s office. It’s a good delay to have, a spokesperson said in an email to […]
As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) looks into more oversight for Medicare Advantage (MA), some progressive lawmakers are urging caution over Medicaid Advantage plans – long lamented among those in the nursing home industry – over deceptive advertising and high rates of denial for services. Members of Congress discussed pitfalls of Medicare […]
More than two months after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its minimum staffing proposal for the skilled nursing industry, commentary from stakeholders came to a close Monday with a staggering 40,000-plus comments received. Reviewing the hefty load of comments on the proposal may take as long as a year, according to […]
Fifteen Republican governors, led by Jim Pillen of Nebraska and Kim Reynolds of Iowa, are amplifying their disapproval of the proposed nursing home staffing mandate inn a letter addressed to President Joe Biden on Wednesday. The governors emphasized their own efforts to guarantee that facilities are adequately staffed for resident care, adding that the staffing […]
More lawmakers are calling upon the Biden administration to kill the proposed minimum staffing rule in a letter sent Tuesday to federal agencies. Members of Congress expressed concern over lack of workers and what they noted was an “unfunded mandate” with a high price tag of $40.6 billion, arguing that if implemented, it could force […]
As the comment period for the federal government’s staffing proposal winds down, advocates for both nursing homes and residents alike are looking at ways to reach a middle ground. Among these advocates for measured change are members of the Moving Forward Coalition – an organization formed in April 2022 following the National Academies of Sciences, […]
Amid the House of Representatives electing a speaker after a period of chaos, federal lawmakers on Wednesday also engaged in discussion of the proposed federal nursing home minimum staffing mandate. In a subcommittee hearing of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, critics contended that the minimum staffing rule would place an excessive burden on facilities, […]
Past White House administrations – including those headed by Democratic presidents – have not tried to enact a federal nursing home staffing mandate, former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan observed on Tuesday. “Even the Obama administration didn’t do that,” Ryan commented, during a discussion with Direct Supply Founder and CEO Bob Hillis at the […]
States continue to take action on addressing wage disparities for nursing home staff even as the industry undergoes massive shifts marked by economic, operational and regulatory changes. Skilled nursing facility staff, as well as other health care workers in California, will slowly see their hourly wage increase to $25 over the next decade under a […]
A Congressional bill that aims to defeat the Biden Administration’s minimum staffing proposal began making rounds last week, and nursing home executives, including clinical team members attending the industry’s largest annual gathering in Denver, hailed it as a welcome development. If passed, the bill could keep the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from […]
A component of the minimum staffing proposal that has received little notice thus far is that labor unions may have some weight in determining the staffing levels needed for a particular building. This feature was the source of discussion among attendees at the annual conference for the American Health Care Association and National Center for […]
In a bipartisan effort, U.S. Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and James Lankford (R-OK), along with 26 other senators, penned a letter to Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), urging the Biden Administration to reconsider the proposed federal staffing mandate. The senators expressed their collective concern that, amid an […]
A government shutdown has been temporarily averted – for 45 days at least – after Congress passed a stopgap bill Saturday evening. And while skilled nursing and other long-term care operators and their reimbursements would not have been immediately impacted, the industry could have seen indirect ramifications. So for now, the sector – whose members […]
At least 5% of the nation’s nursing homes had private equity ownership in 2022, according to a new report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which also noted “limitations” in the federal government’s data on nursing home ownership. The congressional watchdog based its analysis on a review of the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare […]
While nearly 21% of nursing homes across the country have developed nurse aide training programs to combat workforce shortages, civil monetary policy rules have severely hindered efforts to rebuild the workforce. Such training programs are revoked for two years, or cannot be initiated, if a SNF has been issued a CMP in excess of $11,995, […]
As government entities and organizations in the nursing home space are scrambling for policy changes to regulate staffing agencies, they seem to be prioritizing legislation that addresses price gouging while worker classification also remains on the table. The Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) introduced in Congress in 2021 and currently being examined […]
Labor costs and interest rates, among other macroeconomic factors, continue to affect the nursing home industry as use of temporary staff and AI also appear to be exerting an influence. That’s according to CliftonLarsonAllen’s (CLA) economic outlook for 2023, which outlined industry priorities for the next couple of years. Containing labor costs in part by […]
As the staffing minimum mandate inches closer to an official release, associations with ties to the nursing home industry continue to meet this week with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – the government agency currently reviewing the proposal. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) transferred the proposal to OMB for review […]
Subscribe
Receive industry updates and breaking news from SNN.