WICKER, HYDE-SMITH JOIN LEGISLATION TO OVERTURN BIDEN NURSING HOME STAFFING MANDATES
New Staffing Requirements Would Harm Virtually All Mississippi Nursing Homes
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) have cosponsored bipartisan legislation to overturn a Biden administration nursing home staffing rule that sets unreasonable staffing mandates that would harm virtually all long-term care facilities in Mississippi.
Wicker and Hyde-Smith are original cosponsors of a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval (S.J.Res.91), which would stop the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from imposing burdensome federal staffing mandates on nursing homes. Roughly 99 percent of Mississippi nursing homes already face staff shortages and would not be able to meet these regulations.
“Mississippi’s nursing home needs do not match the other 49 states,” Wicker said. “The Biden administration’s decision to impose this unrealistic, unilateral staffing requirement would devastate the quality of care in our rural and underserved communities. I will keep fighting to ensure there is no harm to patient access.”
“There’s no question that nursing home care should be improved, but slapping one-size-fits-all, big-government regulations on small and rural states like Mississippi will only hurt those who rely on these homes. The staffing requirements set by the Biden administration are unachievable for most nursing homes in our state. Any penalties the feds impose on these homes will, in the end, only penalize seniors,” Hyde-Smith said.
Under the final CMS rule, all nursing homes must provide an average of at least 3.48 hours of daily care per resident, with at least .55 daily hours of registered nurse (RN) care and 2.45 hours from nurse aides. The rule also requires an RN to be on-site 24/7. An average nursing home with 100 residents would need to have at least two RNs working per day, along with 10 or 11 nurse aides.
U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) introduced S.J.Res.91, which is cosponsored by 32 Senators. Wicker and Hyde-Smith also signed a 2023 letter by Lankford that asked CMS to rescind its rule on nursing home staffing requirements.
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