Rep. Kelly backs Republican-led push for Biden administration to withdraw unworkable, unrealistic federal nurse staffing mandate
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) applauded a letter led by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05), and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) which calls on the Biden administration to immediately withdraw the proposed rule and provide justification for its $40.6 billion unfunded mandate that could force many nursing homes to close, threatening resident access to direct care services.
The letter, which was sent to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, follows the Biden administration's recently proposed one-size-fits-all federal nurse staffing mandate, despite overwhelming evidence that such a policy would be virtually impossible for the nation’s nursing homes to meet.
Earlier this month, Rep. Kelly joined a similar letter to Secretary Becerra calling on HHS to reconsider their proposed federal staffing requirements on nursing home facilities.
"I want to thank Chairman Smith, Chair McMorris Rodgers, and Ranking Member Crapo for further calling on the Biden administration to reconsider this harmful mandate," Rep. Kelly said. "I have serious concerns that this rule would result in limited access to care for seniors, force mandatory increases in state Medicaid budgets, and most consequentially lead to widespread nursing home closures. I urge the administration to reverse this rule at once."
This week, Rep. Kelly signed onto H.R. 5796, Protecting Rural Seniors’ Access to Care Act, which provides patients with timely, high-quality care delivered close to home.
BACKGROUND
In September, CMS issued a proposed rule establishing minimum staffing requirements and standards for nursing homes. Highlighted in the proposed rule is that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “there are roughly 235,900 fewer health care staff working in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities compared to March of 2020.” Nursing homes around the country would need to hire nearly 13,000 registered nurses and 76,000 nursing assistants. Safety thresholds could increase a modest 1% while costing between $1.5 to $6.8 billion to fully implement. Noncompliance with CMS’ proposed minimum staffing requirements would lead to citations for noncompliance with Medicare Conditions of Participation, potentially resulting in a variety of enforcement actions, including imposition of Civil Monetary Penalties, denial of payments for new admissions, and even termination from the Medicare program.
Many organizations, including the American Health Care Association, National Rural Health Association, National Association of State Veterans Homes, Lutheran Services in America, Council for Health and Human Services Ministries, and LeadingAge, are supportive of the letter Rep. Kelly and colleagues sent to HHS.