STATEMENT ON CMS NURSING HOME STAFFING STANDARDS
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on September 1, 2023 issued a federal nursing home staffing proposal: Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Minimum Staffing Standards for Long-Term Care Facilities and Medicaid Institutional Payment Transparency Reporting (CMS 3442-P)
“The proposed federal nursing home staffing level requirement is a critical and important initial step in ensuring that older adults receive quality care in nursing homes. As we witnessed during the pandemic, facilities that were understaffed and under-resourced had dire outcomes for older adults and major burnout for staff, signaling a need for the federal government to step in and mandate change.
“The proposal will be debated and refined, but it sends a clear signal that the comprehensive set of recommendations on workforce and other critical issues from the 2022 National Academies report on nursing home quality need to be acted upon as a funded mandate.
“Staffing ratios are a key lever to help nursing homes offer high-quality, age-friendly care to residents. All recommendations from the National Academies nursing home quality report must be funded and implemented, which is why we support the Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition. The coalition represents all aspects of nursing home care and is focused on actionable plans that will improve the quality of life and work for nursing home residents and staff.”
- Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN
President, The John A. Hartford Foundation
- 60-day comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking: submit to the Federal Register no later than November 6
The National Academies: The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality - Honoring Our Commitment to Residents, Families, and Staff
Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition
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Contact: To speak with Dr. Fulmer, contact Sarah Schmidt at 860 227-8216 or sschmidt@messagepartnerspr.com, or Marcus Escobedo at 212-832-7788 or marcus.escobedo@johnahartford.org.
About The John A. Hartford Foundation: The John A. Hartford Foundation, based in New York City, is a private, nonpartisan, national philanthropy dedicated to improving the care of older adults. The leader in the field of aging and health, the Foundation has three priority areas: creating age-friendly health systems, supporting family caregivers and improving serious illness and end-of-life care. For more information, visit johnahartford.org and follow @johnahartford.