“Figuring out the right kind of threshold for facilities is going to be challenging.” Some states have been criticized for granting exemptions so facilities can provide less care for each resident.įorthcoming federal rules on staffing must be designed to avoid “unintended consequences,” said David Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, who is supportive of the effort. ![]() Most states have standards for nursing home staffing levels, but the minimums vary widely. They include allowing CMS to ban from the Medicare and Medicaid programs those facilities owned by people or corporations with subpar track records and to increase penalties on poor-performing facilities from $21,000 to $1 million. Some ideas would require congressional action. CMS could pursue several elements under the agency’s existing authority, such as investigating the role of private equity in the sector, increasing its scrutiny of the poorest-performing facilities, and making public more information about facilities’ finances and operators. We just knew there was no way.”īiden’s proposal would amount to the biggest increase in federal nursing home regulation in nearly four decades. ![]() That’s not going to be an overnight thing. Still, she said, “I think one year, knowing that this is government stuff, may be the best we can hope for. “That’s not what we expect for our most vulnerable,” she said. Louis nonprofit that advocates for long-term care residents, said “the speed of this is a little frustrating.” She said she’s seen situations where residents hadn’t had their diapers changed for days because staffing shortages are so dire. Marjorie Moore, executive director of Voyce, a St. ![]() Subscribe to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing. But there’s an exception that allows newly issued regulations to kick in much faster even if the agency allows for public comment - a move that Biden officials have exercised recently when issuing a covid vaccine mandate for health workers and implementing a ban on surprise medical bills that took effect this year. The entire process can take months or even years. When issuing regulations, federal agencies generally release a proposal and then seek public feedback before finalizing it. ![]() The White House this week said CMS will first study the issue and then propose minimum staffing standards “within one year,” but officials have been otherwise vague about timing. “When we do interim final rules, those tend to be things that are absolute emergencies,” Brooks-LaSure said when asked whether they would be considered for nursing home staffing levels, “or tight timelines.” 30, amounting to at least 23% of all U.S. A KFF analysis estimated that more than 200,000 residents and staff members of long-term care facilities had died from covid as of Jan. “Medicare is going to set higher standards for nursing homes and make sure your loved ones get the care they deserve and that they expect,” Biden said.īut Brooks-LaSure suggested the administration’s sought-after nursing home changes are not considered urgent even as nursing homes and other long-term care facilities register shocking numbers of covid deaths. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said in an interview about the overhaul Biden promised during his State of the Union address. “While we want to move swiftly, we want to get comments from stakeholders,” Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the U.S.
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