US will regulate nursing home staffing for first time, but proposal lower than many advocates hoped

The government says most of the 15,000 U.S. nursing homes would have to add staffers and keep a registered nurse on duty 24 hours a dayThe federal government will, for the first time, dictate staffing levels at nursing homes, the Biden administration said Friday, responding to systemic problems bared by mass COVID-19 deaths.

“Establishing minimum staffing standards for nursing homes will improve resident safety,” Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “When facilities are understaffed, residents suffer.” The proposed rules, which now enter a public comment period and would take years more to fully take effect, call for staffing equivalent to 3 hours per resident per day, just over half an hour of it coming from registered nurses. The rules also call for facilities to have an RN on staff 24 hours a day, every day.

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, who heads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, called the move “an important first step.” CMS oversees nursing homes. The new thresholds are drastically lower than those that had long been eyed by advocates after a landmark 2001 CMS-funded study recommended an average of 4.1 hours of nursing care per resident daily.

Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

- No, President Joe Biden isn’t facing trial for treason, sedition and other crimesAs intense media coverage of former President Donald Trump’s legal problems proves, the looming criminal trials of a cur
Source: PolitiFact - 🏆 17. / 71 Read more »

Why Joe Biden needs Joe Manchin more than everIf Joe Manchin chooses not to run in 2024, Joe Biden will be left without one of his party's chief energy policy architects and top ambassadors to rural voters.
Source: Newsweek - 🏆 468. / 52 Read more »

Daring helicopter rescue earns Vietnam veteran Medal of Honor 55 years laterPresident Joe Biden will make the award Sept. 5 at the White House.
Source: ABC - 🏆 471. / 51 Read more »

Biden touts economy after August jobs report: 'People are coming off the sidelines'President Joe Biden played up his economic agenda in a speech touting August's jobs report.
Source: dcexaminer - 🏆 6. / 94 Read more »

Poll: 60% of Voters Say Joe Biden Had Role in Indicting Donald TrumpA strong majority of voters believe President Joe Biden played a role in indicting former President Donald Trump.
Source: BreitbartNews - 🏆 610. / 51 Read more »

Biden investigation: Obama, Biden aides reviewing emails for release to House OversightNational Archives officials have sent some of the records sought by the House Oversight Committee to aides for former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden to approve for release.
Source: dcexaminer - 🏆 6. / 94 Read more »