On Monday, a federal judge in Texas ruled that the federal rule requiring nursing home staffing minimums was unconstitutional, sending sighs of relief throughout the long-term care sector.
The rule, rolled out by former President Joe Biden’s administration last year, would have required nursing homes to maintain a registered nurse on staff 24 hours per day, seven days a week, and required nursing homes to provide 3.48 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Modern Healthcare reports that United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk sided with the American Health Care Association when it found that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) lacked the authority to exceed laws passed by Congress governing nursing home staffing.
Nursing homes were hesitant to rejoice before they were certain the Texas court’s selection of “vacatur as the appropriate remedy” meant that the rule was really dead. Skilled Nursing News notes that the Trump administration will have 60 days to appeal the ruling and the Department of Justice generally defends federal regulations unless they are rescinded.
Modern Healthcare also notes that the industry faces financial hardship with or without the staffing mandates as states still maintain their own staffing minimums and Medicaid rate cuts loom large. Nursing home values plummeted to $83,800 per bed in 2024 from $97,700 in 2023.
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