Safe Staffing Mandate

Attorneys general from 18 states are urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reconsider its repeal of the federal nursing home staffing mandate and to adopt a new rule that would impose minimum staffing requirements specifically on for‑profit nursing homes and related‑party payers — entities such as affiliated pharmacies or staffing agencies that do business with nursing facilities.

Proponents of the measure, including state officials, argue that targeting for‑profit providers and related entities with tailored staffing standards could help curb fraud in Medicare and Medicaid, protect vulnerable long‑term care residents, and improve access to care by ensuring adequate staff levels in facilities that serve a high proportion of Medicaid beneficiaries.

They are pushing CMS to craft a reasonable replacement regulation that would increase safety and require quantitative minimum staffing metrics, even as broader federal staffing requirements have been repealed or face legal and political challenges