U.S. Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) want to void a final rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that imposes burdensome, one-size-fits-all federal staffing mandates on long-term care facilities that they say could force many rural nursing homes to shut their doors.
The lawmakers on June 4 joined 28 of their colleagues, including U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), as original cosponsors of the bipartisan Senate Joint Resolution (S.J.Res.) 91, which is sponsored by U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK).
Specifically, S.J.Res. 91 would rescind the CMS rule relating to “Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Minimum Staffing Standards for Long-Term Care Facilities and Medicaid Institutional Payment Transparency Reporting.”
“The Biden administration continues its regulatory onslaught, this time placing burdensome and unworkable staffing mandates on long-term care facilities,” Sen. Hoeven said, adding that an enacted resolution would “stop these overly broad mandates that will put rural care facilities in North Dakota and across the country out of business.”
Instead of these mandates, “CMS should be working with Congress to ensure that we have workable rules that protect patient care and work for long-term care facilities in rural communities,” said Sen. Hoeven.
At the same time, if numerous rural health facilities go out of business, Sen. Moran said that many of his rural Kansan constituents would be deprived of access to any health care.
“The administration should be working with Congress to expand access to health care in rural communities rather than adding more regulations that will make it impossible for rural nursing homes to keep operating,” said Sen. Moran. “Overturning this mandate will support rural nursing homes and make certain they provide quality care and housing to the patients living in them.”
Among the lawmakers who joined Sen. Hoeven and Sen. Moran in introducing S.J.Res. 91 were U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).