Twenty state attorneys general filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to rescind federal nursing home staffing mandates that one official called an “attack on elder care.”
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Iowa against the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is the latest front in the fight against monthly staffing rules. Also participating were 19 LeadingAge affiliates.
“Older adults invest their entire lives in their communities,” said Iowa Attorney General Brenna Byrd, who led the lawsuit along with the attorneys general of Kansas and South Carolina. “Right now, we need to invest in them by making sure they get the care they need. We are suing to stop the Biden-Harris attack on senior care that will completely take away access to seniors.”
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia is also joining the lawsuit.
New federal requirements add hourly provisions for certain nursing roles, requiring 3.48 hours of nursing care per patient each day starting in 2026. Health care providers argue that this rule is impossible to meet given the continuing shortage of certified nursing assistants and the even broader shortage of registered nursing assistants nationwide. The impact on nurses is expected to last until at least 2030. Rural states appear to be particularly hard hit, and there is a growing bipartisan front of resistance to the rule.
“This imposes harmful and unsustainable obligations on our members and nursing homes across the country,” Steve Barmer, president and CEO of LeadingAge Southeast, said in a statement late Wednesday. said. “While we share CMS’ goal of ensuring that all nursing home residents receive quality care, we believe that staffing mandates are misplaced. exceeds its authority and imposes an unreasonable financial burden on the state and providers. Our members are dedicated to providing quality care, but this obligation is not guaranteed by residents. We threaten that ability by introducing onerous requirements that put the very services we depend on at risk.”
The new lawsuit in the federal district court in Iowa is in addition to one already underway in federal court in Texas. The lawsuit, filed by the American Medical Association, the Texas Medical Association, and three health care providers, is proceeding as planned, with initial results expected as early as January. LeadingAge National is also a party to that lawsuit.
