Rep. Doggett Calls Out Republicans’ Abandon Nursing Home Residents Act

Washington, D.C.—A day before the State of the Union address, the House Ways & Means Committee adopted H.R. 7513, a bill to undermine the Biden Administration’s promise to deliver modest, long-overdue minimum safe staffing standards for nursing homes. U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Ranking Member of the Health Subcommittee, slammed the legislation, which was opposed by Democrats, for abandoning residents, who are suffering from insufficient nursing care in facilities that often prioritize profits over fair wages and resident well-being.

You can view Rep. Doggett’s full remarks during today’s mark-up here and here.

During the Committee’s mark-up, Rep. Doggett said, “This Republican bill should be known as “The Abandon Nursing Home Residents Act.” It offers nothing for a majority of Americans, who give nursing homes an overall grade of D+, with 70% reporting nursing quality as the top concern. Eighty-eight percent of nursing home residents surveyed complained of inadequate staffing to meet their needs. The residents, their families, and the nursing staff caring for them or pleading for help. Assuring sufficient staff ensures dignity for workers and residents; it saves lives. But with this bill, Republicans are insisting on doing nothing more to address their concerns and improve nursing home safety.”

In addition to Rep. Doggett’s opposition, several organizations expressed strong concerns with H.R. 7513, including the United Steelworkers, National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, AARP, AFL-CIO, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, AFSCME, and SEIU.

Background:

Last year, the Biden Administration proposed a Minimum Staffing Standards for Long-Term Care (LTC) Facilities and Medicaid Institutional Payment Transparency Reporting rule, which would establish minimum staffing standards for nursing homes and require greater transparency on the use of taxpayer dollars to ensure facilities responsibly deliver the quality care expected. These minimal requirements do little more than require a level of staffing at each nursing home that will still remain below the average staffing for the entire nursing home industry—basically, requiring those facilities providing the least care to at least approach the industry average.

In November 2023, Rep. Doggett responded to the proposal, leading more than 100 lawmakers in urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to strengthen and quickly finalize the proposed rule. Specifically, to ensure resident safety and the delivery of quality care, the Members called for a phased-in minimum staffing requirement of 4.2 hours of nursing services provided to each resident per day (HPRD), including at least 2.8 HPRD of certified nurse aide and assistant (CNA) care, and 1.4 HPRD of licensed nurse care—at least 0.75 HPRD of which should be delivered by a registered nurse (RN). Additionally, the Members expressed support for CMS’s proposal to require a 24/7 RN onsite and urged CMS to adopt appropriate timestamped data reporting to improve oversight as well as to improve taxpayer accountability by expanding reporting requirements to include the percentage of Medicare payments spent on direct compensation of care workers and support staff.

To date, the Biden Administration has not finalized its proposal and is still reviewing public comments.

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