FARGO — North Dakota has joined a group of 20 states suing to block a Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services rule that requires nursing homes to be staffed 24 hours a day.
Nursing homes are required by Congress to have eight hours of continuous staffing per day, according to a Wednesday, Oct. 9, announcement from North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley's office.
The new rules require increased staffing levels to 24 hours a day and a higher ratio of nursing staff to residents, “which results in 97% of nursing homes not complying,” the release states. listed.
“This final rule poses an existential threat to the nursing home industry, as many already struggling nursing homes will be forced to close, and the primary victims will be patients who have nowhere else to go. ” the complaint states.
Wrigley said the new rules particularly impact rural nursing homes.
“Twenty states come together to stop ill-planned overreach by the Biden-Harris administration that will undermine care and ultimately limit patient access, especially when nursing homes are forced to close in rural areas. And we're trying to break it down if we can.”
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum supported Wrigley's participation in the lawsuit.
“North Dakota remains committed to providing quality care to the state's nursing home residents. The rules will only exacerbate the workforce shortages in the nursing profession that are already in place and facing massive shortages in the wake of the pandemic,'' Burgum said in the release.
The lawsuit is being led by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Byrd, and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson. They are joined by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Montana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
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