Kentucky joins 19 other states in challenging the Biden administration's rules setting minimum staffing requirements for nursing homes.
As Kentucky Health News previously reported, the nursing home industry is pushing ahead with the rule, saying it can't afford to comply even if it can get enough new staff amid widespread health care worker shortages. is repulsed by
Twenty state attorneys general, including Kentucky's Russell Coleman, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa seeking to reverse and repeal the new regulations.
The Nursing Home Minimum Staffing Regulations require nursing homes that receive Medicare or Medicaid payments to have a defined number of registered nurses (0.55 hours per resident per day) and nursing assistants (2.45 hours per resident per day). ) are required to provide 3.48 hours of direct care per resident each day. per day).
According to the complaint, approximately 211 long-term care facilities in Kentucky do not meet staffing requirements. To comply, the complaint says, the company would need to hire 185 registered nurses and 1,336 nursing assistants.
The 66-page court document criticizes the rule as an “existential threat to the nursing home industry” that could put some operators out of business and cause “irreparable” harm.
“Older adults and other vulnerable populations rely on nursing homes and similar facilities to meet their needs when their families are not available,” the complaint states. “The nursing home industry certainly has its challenges, but it fills a critical need in our community that cannot be replaced. Instead of addressing the legitimate challenges nursing homes face, defendants have issued heavy-handed mandates. Ta.”
“And the primary victims will be patients who have nowhere else to go,” the complaint states.
This article is republished under a Creative Commons license by Kentucky Lantern, part of the States Newsroom, a network of newsrooms supported by a coalition of grants and donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Masu. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. If you have any questions, please contact editor Jamie Lucke at info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lanterns on Facebook and Twitter.
Sarah Ladd is a Louisville-based journalist and Kentucky native. She has covered everything from crime to higher education. In 2020, she began reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic and has been reporting on health ever since.
