Schakowsky, Doggett Lead Effort Pressing for Strong Nursing Home Staffing Standards
WASHINGTON - U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Co-Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Task Force on Aging and Families, and U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Ranking Member of the House Ways & Means Health Subcommittee, led a majority of the House Democratic Caucus—113 lawmakers— in urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish robust nursing home staffing standards to ensure residents receive comprehensive, quality care and workers are not overburdened with high caseload and inadequate support.
Focusing on the proposed FY 24 Medicare payment rule, the Members urge Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to include a “strong hours of nursing services per resident per day” standard to ensure residents receive appropriate care with the right skill mix to meet their needs, and low resident-to-staff ratios to ensure workers have sufficient time to treat each resident under their care. These Members also encouraged CMS to improve staffing data collection, as recommended by the Office of Inspector General, and to examine use of Medicare and Medicaid payments to ensure reimbursement rates are sufficient to meet safe staffing standards.
“It has been one year since President Biden’s State of the Union announcement concerning this study and over 20 years since CMS’s last review,” wrote the Members. “Meanwhile, many nursing home residents and workers have suffered from insufficient staffing. It is imperative that CMS finalize robust requirements this year… Residents deserve the best of care from highly trained and sufficiently numbered staff. We strongly urge you to include robust minimum staffing requirements in the forthcoming Fiscal Year 2024 Medicare payment rule.”
This letter was endorsed by SEIU, AFSCME, American Nurses Association, National Nurses United, American Federation of Teachers, Center for Medicare Advocacy, Justice in Aging, Social Security Works, National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, Long Term Care Community Coalition, and Public Citizen.
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