New staffing guideliens for nursing homes

The Department of Health and Human Services issued new regulations that mandates specific staffing requirements for nursing homes, such as the amount of care that must be provided (on average) to each resident. KFF Family Health News reported on various reactions to the new rules.

The different political parties were quoted with reactions as one might expect: Democrats praised the change with one saying "much more is needed to ensure sufficient care and resident safety"; a Republican was quoted as saying that the new regulations would "devastate nursing homes across the country and worsen the staffing shortages we are already facing." Understandably, advocates for nursing home residents praised the move, while an industry association that represents nursing homes said that the regulation "creates an impossible task for providers."

Notably, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) estimated that the new rules will cost $6 billion, but there does not appear to be any plan for CMS to increase reimbursement. Many nursing homes rely on payments from Medicaid and those facilities most likely will not be able to raise prices in the short term. The additional costs would reduce profits for the owners of those facilities. Some have argued that nursing homes will close because of the additional cost, but the article linked to a study showing that nursing homes are generally more profitable than they appear, given that nursing home operators frequently inflate costs that they benefit from (e.g. cost of rent while they own the real estate as a separate business). It seems likely that at least a few nursing homes will close because of the regulation, but it is unclear how many will. On the other hand, the quality of life at these facilities will probably improve for residents at many nursing homes.