CMS Prepares to Introduce Nursing Home Staffing Requirements Based on Recent Study Findings.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is reviewing a year-long study on staffing mandates for nursing homes as it prepares to issue proposed federal minimum staffing requirements this spring. The study, which includes quantitative and qualitative data, aims to determine policy direction and cost implications of implementing a federal staffing mandate. CMS Deputy Director Jean Moody-Williams said the agency will use the study's findings to inform its proposal, but there is no indication that the study itself will be made public.

The proposed staffing mandate has been met with resistance from skilled nursing operators and industry organizations, who argue that they cannot support the initiative due to ongoing staffing crises and lack of federal or state funding. Federal law currently requires nursing homes to provide 24-hour licensed nursing services, using a registered nurse (RN) for at least 8 consecutive hours a day, seven days a week.

CMS plans to issue its proposal for minimum staffing requirements this spring, which will then undergo a notice-and-comment rulemaking process. This will give industry stakeholders another opportunity to weigh in on the proposal. The agency has also taken steps to increase transparency of facility information and improve oversight of nursing homes, including publicly displaying disputed survey citations and conducting off-site audits.

The CMS call on the proposed staffing mandate came after federal lawmakers urged the agency to reconsider a one-size-fits-all staffing mandate. Skilled nursing operators have expressed concerns that such a mandate would be too rigid and fail to account for individual facility needs and circumstances.