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.

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.

  • GFGJewbacca@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    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.