Industry Profits Over Patient Safety

The repeal of the federal nursing home staffing rule is one of the most dangerous policy reversals we’ve seen in long-term care. Senator Ron Wyden said it clearly: stripping away these protections will mean fewer nurses at the bedside, fewer eyes on vulnerable residents, and more preventable tragedies. He’s right.

The original rule wasn’t extreme—it simply required nursing homes to provide a basic minimum level of CNA and RN hours and to have a registered nurse on-site 24/7. That is the bare minimum for safety. These standards were created because understaffing is at the root of nearly every case of neglect, injury, and wrongful death families bring to us.

But with the stroke of a pen, CMS repealed the rule. Now, facilities are no longer required to maintain even the lowest level of staffing. No guaranteed CNA hours. No 24/7 RN. No baseline of oversight for residents who depend entirely on staff to stay safe.

This isn’t “regulatory relief.” It’s handing the industry exactly what it wants: freedom to cut staffing even further while continuing to collect Medicare and Medicaid dollars. Many operators already siphon money upward through related-party transactions and management fees while leaving facilities dangerously understaffed. Removing the rule just removes the last line of defense.

We know exactly what happens next because we see it every day: more falls, more pressure ulcers, more infections, more unnoticed medical emergencies, and more families blindsided by tragedies that should never have happened.

Senator Wyden is right to sound the alarm. Repealing the staffing rule doesn’t reduce burden — it reduces safety. And it leaves thousands of vulnerable residents at the mercy of facilities that have already shown they will cut care to protect profit.