South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announces that he has co-led a coalition of 20 state attorneys general and groups that represent hundreds of not-for-profit aging services providers across the country in filing a lawsuit to overturn a new nursing home staffing mandate that’s impossible to implement. The staffing mandate is being implemented by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS).
Filed in the United States District Court’s Northern District of Iowa, the complaint intends to overturn the mandate itself and vacate certain of the more onerous requirements in the rule.
“This new staffing rule is impossible to implement based on the nursing shortage and will force the closure of nursing homes and raise costs at those that remain, devastating families financially and leaving people without the care they need,” Attorney General Wilson said.
In April, CMS released the Nursing Home Minimum Staffing Standards final rule to the Federal Register. The rule requires all federally funded nursing homes to produce a revised facility assessment and changes the minimum number of hours per resident day (HPRD). All providers must provide 3.48 hours of direct nursing care per patient, per day and staff a registered nurse 24 hours a day. These specific breakdowns also require 0.55 RN and 2.45 certified nurse aide (CNA) coverage per patient, per day.
These newly prescribed HPRDs mean nursing homes across the U.S. will need an additional 27,000 full-time registered nurses (RNs) and 78,000 full-time nurse aides costing over $7 billion—an impossible requirement to meet amid a worldwide nursing shortage and dismal Medicaid reimbursement rates that do not fully cover the actual cost of care. Sadly, the HPRD limits the utilization of licensed practical nurses (LPNs) who provide most of the direct patient care in nursing homes, potentially displacing thousands of these workers across the U.S.
LeadingAge South Carolina’s CEO, Kassie South, commented, “We are thankful for Attorney General, Alan Wilson, for fighting for the elders, healthcare system, and taxpayers in South Carolina and nationwide that will be gravely impacted by this unfunded and unlawful mandate.”
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