Measure to scrap Biden nursing home rule may pass
Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios
A resolution aimed at overturning President Biden's federal nursing home staffing mandate has a real chance of passing the Senate.
Why it matters: The vote would show the resistance to the first-of-its-kind standard and reveal a rift within the Democratic Party, even though Biden would almost certainly veto the measure.
Between the lines: Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and independent Sen. Joe Manchin sponsored the Congressional Review Act resolution last week. They and all of the chamber's Republicans could deliver the simple majority of votes required for passage.
- The staffing standard would, among other things, require 33 minutes of care per patient per day from a registered nurse, which backers argue would make nursing homes safer and ensure seniors are not left in need for hours.
- But nursing home operators and their allies say it's impossible to meet because of persistent health workforce shortages, especially in rural areas, and would force some facilities to close.
What they're saying: Tester, who's up for reelection in a red state, has been outspoken against the rule, citing its impact on rural facilities and trying to distance himself from the Biden administration.
- "At a time when nursing homes across Montana are struggling with workforce shortage issues, it makes no sense for unelected bureaucrats in the Biden administration to hand down a one-size-fits-all policy that would force these critical facilities to shutter their doors," Tester said in a statement.
- Manchin, who is retiring at the end of this Congress, similarly cited the strains on rural health systems in a statement. "This overly-demanding and unrealistic staffing rule from the Biden administration directly jeopardizes our seniors' healthcare services, especially in rural areas like West Virginia," he said.
The other side: "It would be a shame if lawmakers move forward with trying to stop this life-saving rule in its tracks," an AARP spokesperson said. "Taxpayers have invested tens of billions of dollars in nursing homes. And most critically: people in nursing homes can wait hours for staff to answer a call bell to take them to the bathroom or hand them timely prescription medication."
Zoom in: Besides the CRA disapproval resolution, Tester also introduced his own bipartisan bill last year, which would block the final rule, as well as create an advisory council to assess and issue recommendations on the nursing home workforce.
- Independent senators who caucus with Democrats, including Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, Angus King and Manchin, are signed onto the bill.
- On the House side, a similar version of that bill was approved out of the Ways and Means Committee in March, with one Democrat joining Republicans to vote for it.
- House Energy and Commerce has also held a hearing where the bill was considered, but it hasn't been marked up in that committee yet.
What's next: The timing on when the senators might force a privileged vote on the floor is still unclear.
- If a committee has not advanced the CRA resolution after 20 days, 30 senators then have the ability to discharge it from committee and force a floor vote.
- "It's got to be fully ripe and ready to go. We have not set the exact date on that yet, but we definitely want to do it. And it will be bipartisan when it moves," Sen. James Lankford, one of the leads on the resolution, told Axios last week.
