Vice President Harris announces final rules mandating minimum standards for nursing home staffing

The federal government is for the first time requiring nursing homes to have minimum staffing levels after the COVID-19 pandemic exposed grim realities in poorly staffed facilities for older and disabled Americans.

Vice President Kamala Harris announced the final rules on Monday before a trip to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where she will talk to nursing home care employees about their work. In the battleground state, Harris also will hold a campaign event focused on abortion rights.

President Joe Biden first announced his plan to set nursing home staffing levels in his 2022 State of the Union address, but his Democratic administration has taken longer to nail down a final rule as health care worker shortages plague the industry. Current law only requires that nursing homes have “sufficient” staffing, leaving it up to states for interpretation.

The new rules implement a minimum number of hours that staff members spend with residents. They also require a registered nurse to be available around the clock at the facilities, which are home to about 1.2 million people. The rules dictate that 80% of Medicaid payments for home care providers go to workers’ wages.

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