A coalition of 20 Republican-led states filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration’s nursing home minimum staffing mandate, but the rule could end up saving thousands of lives each year once implemented.
The lawsuit was led by the attorneys general of Iowa, South Carolina and Kansas, and filed in the District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. According to Inside Health Policy, it argues that the rule violates staffing requirements established by Congress 40 years ago and is too expensive.
The suit cites a study by the law firm CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA), which estimates the financial cost of the rules will exceed $6 billion and disproportionately affect rural nursing homes.
Reuters notes that the other plaintiffs include Florida, Georgia, Virginia and nursing home advocacy group LeadingAge state affiliates. From the complaint:
This Final Rule poses an existential threat to the nursing home industry as many nursing homes that are already struggling will have no choice but to go out of business, and the main victims will be the patients who have nowhere else to go.
But the rule remains broadly popular, and patient advocacy groups view the protections of increased staffing requirements as crucial for resident safety. Medicare Advocacy refutes the idea that the minimum is impossible to meet by demonstrating supportive data from the industry itself, and asserts that better pay and working conditions could easily end the workforce shortage:
When nurse aides are paid poverty-level wages with limited benefits, are fired for mistakes caused by lack of sufficient staff, endure poor working conditions that, according to the federal Bureau of Labor, make nursing home employment for aides one of the most dangerous jobs in the country, and hear endlessly from nursing home owners, operators, and their trade associations that facilities are understaffed and will close, it is no wonder that people choose other employment, especially in times (like now) of low unemployment. Improving the working environment would help nursing homes hire and retain nursing staff.
The rule will also likely save lives if it survives its legal challenges and remains implemented. USA Today reports that researchers at the University of Pennsylvania estimate the rule would result in roughly 13,000 fewer deaths per year.
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