Pres. Biden will use his State of the Union speech to launch a major overhaul of nursing home quality, including minimum staffing levels and steps to beef up inspections.
The Associated Press
Nursing home residents represent a disproportionate share of deaths in the coronavirus pandemic, and the Biden administration has been working to develop home- and community-based care as an alternative. The administration is also wary of a growing trend toward investor-owned, profit-driven facilities.
Lawmakers in Congress have been debating legislation to require minimum staffing standards for facilities that accept payment from Medicare and Medicaid, as virtually all do. The original plan was to include staffing requirements in Biden's domestic agenda bill, but with that legislation stalled the administration seems to be shifting to using its regulatory powers to bring about changes.
In a statement, the head of the major industry group said what nursing homes need is more resources and not finger-pointing. Beefed-up oversight is another priority for Biden. His plan calls for increasing the nursing home inspection budget by $500 million, a boost of nearly 25%. Nursing home inspections are generally carried out by the states, following guidelines from Medicare. Biden is planning to revamp a special inspection program that focuses on low-performing facilities, to raise fines on nursing homes that fail to improve and, if necessary, cut off Medicare and Medicaid payments.care system.
More than half of the nation's nursing homes are owned by for-profit companies, and the administration wants to shine a spotlight on a growing trend of private equity firms snapping up ownership of facilities.
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