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House Reps to Consider H.R. 7513 Prohibiting HHS from Finalizing Minimum Staffing and Ownership Transparency for Nursing Homes

Writer's picture: Mary NicholsMary Nichols

Resident care is more important than industry profit so please ask your representatives in D.C. to VOTE NO on H.R. 7513.
You can find your House Reps and Senators by searching HERE and read the bill HERE.

Just when you think you've seen it all, there is always a new way to put nursing home industry interests and their income above resident care. The industry is telling two ginormous tall tales about the minimum staffing and transparency standards proposal by CMS and unfortunately, legislators are listening to them instead of us AND INSTEAD OF EVEN READING THE PROPOSED RULE.

  • Minimum staffing standards will NOT bankrupt the nursing home industry

  • Minimum staffing will NOT force nursing homes to close

PLEASE CALL YOUR U.S. CONGRESSIONAL REPS ASAP AND ASK THEM TO OPPOSE H.R. 7513 AND READ THE RULE INSTEAD OF LISTENING TO INDUSTRY LOBBYISTS.

ELECTED OFFICIALS ARE BEING MISLED ABOUT WHAT THE PROPOSAL REALLY SAYS. This rule is at the FEDERAL LEVEL and would affect the safety of residents and business transparency in every nursing home in this country. But ever since this administration announced nursing home reforms would include a minimum staffing standard AND ownership transparency requirements, the nursing home industry has:

  • spent millions of dollars opposing it

  • been actively campaigning in D.C. to get legislators to stop CMS from finalizing it

  • been inundating social media with posts from AHCA, industry reps, and facilities in opposition

  • been getting nursing home publications like McKnights to print articles siding with them

  • been omitting critical parts of the minimum staffing proposal to give the appearance that minimum standards will result in immediate closures, particularly in rural areas

Absolute POPPYCOCK.

But it sounds good and has convinced legislators that keeping dangerously understaffed facilities open and making staff members work in sweatshop conditions is far better than:

  • phasing in minimum staffing that is less than CMS said was necessary even 20 years ago

  • phasing in minimum staffing over a period of several years

  • providing annual and perpetual waivers for facilities unable to comply

  • preventing compromised care, abuse and neglect of residents

  • requiring facilities to show good-faith efforts at recruitment while not penalizing them for the inability to recruit

  • requiring facilities to budget for the staff they need

  • expecting facilities to maintain safe and healthy staff levels for the benefit of the mental and physical health of their staffs.

  • reporting with transparency who owns property and buildings and where Medicaid and Medicare funding is really going

And as if we haven't had enough studies about staffing levels already, this bill also esablishes an "advisory panel" on the skilled nursing facility workforce. We can only guess who will be on the advisory panel... the same industry representatives that already control everything else long-term care related.

Forgive me if I sound cynical but if we, the family members of residents in long-term care do not call our elected officials in Washington D.C. and tell them what we want and expect, they will not only have no way of knowing what we wanat and continue to obey those industries that fund their campaigns and yield far more power and influence than we will ever have, but they will also think we are uninformed and/or naiive voters which this group is not.

We have voter registration cards and telephones. So please let's use them both and tell our Representatives that resident care is more important than industry profit so VOTE NO to H.R. 7513.

We are Texas Caregivers for Compromise and we are #notgoingaway!


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