Nursing homes will have to maintain minimum staffing levels under a Biden administration proposal despite furious lobbying from the industry, which says it will be too onerous amid a continuing labor shortage.
Biden administration officials said the first-ever national staffing rule would require nursing homes that participate in Medicare and Medicaid to provide a minimum of 0.55 hours of care from a registered nurse per resident a day, and 2.45 hours of care from a nurse aide per resident a day. A registered nurse would be required to be on-site at all times and nursing-home care assessments would be strengthened under the proposal.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that about 75% of nursing homes would have to strengthen staffing in their facilities under the proposal. The proposed staffing standard exceeds those existing in nearly all states.
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The administration said it also plans to launch a national initiative to tackle the staffing shortage in the nursing-home industry. It will invest more than $75 million in financial incentives such as scholarships and tuition reimbursement to support staffing prospects for nursing homes.
Thank God at least something is being done about this. I don’t think it’s perfect, because I feel like the requirements they’re imposing will barely help most patients deal with basic daily tasks. Even so this is way better than little to no coverage at all.