The federal government is implementing mandatory minimum staffing levels for nursing homes, following the exposure of severe understaffing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vice President Kamala Harris announced the final rules, which require a minimum number of hours of care per resident and round-the-clock availability of registered nurses at facilities housing approximately 1.2 million individuals.
The new regulations dictate that 80% of Medicaid payments for home care providers must be directed towards worker wages. While advocates for the elderly and disabled have sought such regulations for decades, the nursing home industry is likely to push back.
The new staffing thresholds fall below the 4.1 hours of nursing care per resident daily recommended by a 2001 study funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). However, they represent a significant improvement over current staffing levels, with the average U.S. nursing home providing approximately 3.6 hours of caregiver staffing per resident per day.
The government will introduce the rules in phases, with extended timeframes for nursing homes in rural communities and temporary exemptions for areas with workforce shortages. The American Health Care Association, which lobbies for care facilities, has opposed the changes, calling them “unfathomable.”
