Washington, D.C. – Today, The American Health Care Association (AHCA) representing approximately 15,000 nursing homes and long term care facilities across the country that provide care to approximately five million people each year, released the following statement regarding the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruling in AHCA and the other plaintiffs' favor to vacate the Biden Administration's federal staffing mandate for nursing homes.
AHCA, joined by the Texas Health Care Association (THCA), LeadingAge, and several Texas long term care facilities
filed a lawsuit in May of last year against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for exceeding their statutory authority and arbitrarily and capriciously issuing the Minimum Staffing Standards for Long-Term Care Facilities final rule.
The following statement is attributable to
Clif Porter, President and CEO of AHCA/NCAL: “Today's ruling from the Northern District of Texas is a victory for our nation's seniors and their families. This unrealistic staffing mandate threatened to close nursing homes and displace vulnerable seniors. The court decision not only upholds the rule of law and balance of powers, but it protects access to care for our aging population. We appreciate Judge Kacsmaryk's careful and thoughtful review of this case.
“The Court has confirmed that CMS does not have the authority to issue such staffing requirements—only Congress does. Therefore, we now call on Congress to act. In light of evolving care practices and our nation's changing demographics, federal policymakers should not be dictating staffing hours but encouraging innovation and high-quality outcomes. The staffing mandate is a 20th Century solution that should be blocked by Congress once and for all.
“As we have said from the beginning, nursing homes would love to hire more nurses and caregivers, and despite limited resources, we are doing everything within our power to grow our workforce. Even prior to the introduction of the staffing mandate, AHCA was offering federal policymakers a variety of workforce solutions that would help build a pipeline of new caregivers, attract them to long term care, and develop their skills and career.
“Our work is not yet done. Our nation's aging population demands that we find a better way. We look forward to working with Congress and the Administration to pursue more common-sense workforce solutions."