Valued Voice

On Sept. 1, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule regarding staffing requirements for nursing homes that participate in Medicare and Medicaid. Key highlights of the proposed rule include:
 

• Nursing homes would have to provide a minimum of 0.55 hours of care from a registered nurse (RN) per resident day and at least 2.45 hours of care from a nurse aide per resident day.
• Nursing homes would need to implement the standards regardless of an individual facility’s patient case mix.
• An RN would be required to be on-site at all times.
• Requirements to the content of nursing home care assessments would be revised.

CMS estimates that about 75% of nursing homes would have to increase staffing in their facilities under the proposed standards. Comments on the proposed rule are due Nov. 6, 2023. WHA continues to analyze the proposed rule and its impact.
 
WHA remains focused on various strategies to help address the health care workforce challenges in Wisconsin. The most recent state budget included a number of WHA-crafted provisions aimed at growing the health care workforce, including the Allied Health Training Grant Program and the Graduate Medical Education Grant Program.
 
The WHA Workforce Forum, which will be held in Madison on Sept. 13, will include discussions about workforce attraction and retention strategies. The full agenda is available here. More information about the conference and registration are available here.