STAFFING MANDATE

If so, we need you to write to CMS to let them know how concerned you are that President Biden is proposing a national skilled nursing home mandated staffing ratio of 4.1 hours per resident day. The purported intent of this proposal is to improve quality of care in our country’s nursing facilities. However, this aggressive “one size fits all” national approach will only have the opposite result.

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The industry is already suffering from a historic labor crisis. If this proposal is approved as-is, 94% of facilities surveyed indicate they will not be able to meet it, hundreds of thousands of new workers will be needed, and an additional $11B will be spent each year. In the words of AHCA/NCAL President Mark Parkinson on our most recent VIUM Capital VERSED podcast: "It is probably the single worst public policy idea that I've ever seen in my very long life in public policy. We just don't have the workers...and even if we did, we don't have the funding to pay for them." You can listen to the full interview with Mark Parkinson below.

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‍Listen to the Full Interview‍

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The long-term care workforce is at a 30-year low and several nursing facilities in rural parts of the country have recently closed due to an inability to find workers. We are on the brink of a significant access to care issue for our nation’s seniors, and President Biden’s proposal will only exacerbate this very concerning situation. ‍

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Here’s how you can help. CMS needs to hear from you, your colleagues, co-workers, and family members before this proposal comes out. AHCA/NCAL is asking for at least 3,000 individual comments to be sent into CMS before February 28, 2023. They have made the process very easy and it will take you very little time to complete this very important step.

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To submit your comments:

1. Please follow these instructions.‍

2. Or email CMS directly at HealthandSafetyInquiries@cms.hhs.gov and send copy to AHCA: gr@ahca.org.‍

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If you have any questions about how to provide your comments, please contact Matt Smyth, AHCA/NCAL Senior Director, Grassroots & Member Advocacy – Msmyth@ahca.org or Scott Tittle, VIUM Capital Head of Government Relations – stittle@viumcapital.com.