Washington Post: First in the Health 202: Democrats urge CMS to adopt stricter nursing home staffing rules

Nearly 100 House Democrats are calling on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to strengthen a proposed rule that would set minimum staffing standards for nursing homes. 

The letter anchored by Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) will be sent to the agency this afternoon, joining more than 25,000 comments already filed on the proposal. CMS is accepting public feedback on its staffing plan through the end of the day. 

A closer look: If implemented as proposed, the draft rule would require each of the nation’s 15,000 nursing homes to provide its residents with at least three hours of direct care every day. It would also require a registered nurse to be on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

• The lawmakers are urging CMS to raise the direct care requirement to 4.2 hours per patient, per day. They also want the agency to implement a timestamped staffing data reporting requirement to ensure nursing homes are complying with the 24/7 registered nurse on-site requirement, among other changes. 

The bigger picture: Since it was released in September, the Biden administration’s much-anticipated plan has been facing heat from patient advocates who want it to be more robust, and industry trade groups that argue a workforce shortage makes such mandatory staffing levels unfeasible and too costly. 

CMS has said the draft rule strikes the right balance between ensuring residents get the quality care the government and families are paying for, and improving working conditions for overstretched employees that provide front-line care in nursing homes.