Nursing home staffing rule finds scant political support

December 4, 2023

President Joe Biden’s high-profile plan to improve nursing home quality by setting staffing minimums has attracted intense resistance and lukewarm support, regulatory comments and public statements reveal.

The nursing home industry strenuously opposes the policy, which the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed Sept. 1. And as a growing number of congressional Republicans have spoken against it, Biden and CMS have gotten little support, and even resistance, from a cadre of Democrats and patient advocates.

During his State of the Union address last year, Biden announced his agenda to bolster long-term care quality and safety after COVID-19 tore through nursing homes. Federally mandated staffing minimums, the centerpiece of Biden’s nursing home platform, have long been favored by nurse unions, advocacy organizations and progressives.

Read the full story from Modern Healthcare here.