The group says federal agencies have not been given authorization from Congress.
A collective of nursing home companies filed a lawsuit against President Biden’s administration, claiming that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) did not receive the appropriate Congressional approval to implement new minimum staffing requirements for long-term care facilities.
The requirements, released last month, direct all nursing homes that receive federal funding from Medicare and Medicaid to have one registered nurse on staff 24 hours per day and hire enough staff to provide at least 3.48 hours of nursing care to each of the residents. Nonrural facilities have three years to meet these new requirements, and rural facilities have five years.
“Setting one-size-fits-all staffing requirements that will require some four-fifths of the nation’s nursing homes to hire additional personnel, even though almost no state has deemed those higher levels necessary… is the height of arbitrary and capricious agency action,” the suit stated. The lawsuit also argues the change will displace thousands of residents due to downsizing.
According to estimates by the Department of Health and Human Services, these changes will cost the nursing home industry a total of $43 billion by 2034.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to receive the Lord’s wisdom as he oversees the department.
- For Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to seek God’s direction as she heads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Sources: The Hill, Axios
