Rule Change Summary:
The Biden administration’s federal nursing home staffing mandate has officially been repealed by the Trump administration. This mandate would have forced rural facilities to meet staffing ratios that simply aren’t achievable in communities like ours, where workforce shortages are already severe. The rule was scheduled to take effect, threatening to cut admissions, close beds, or even shut down rural nursing homes entirely.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration reversed the rule, acknowledging what rural providers and lawmakers have been saying all along: one-size-fits-all mandates don’t work in federal policy. 

My take:
The proposed rule for long-term care facilities consisted of three core staffing proposals: 1) minimum nurse staffing standards of 0.55 hours per resident day (HPRD) for Registered Nurses (RNs) and 2.45 HPRD for Nurse Aides; 2) a requirement to have an RN on-site 24 hours a day, seven days a week; and 3) enhanced facility assessment requirements.

I warned that Biden’s staffing mandate would devastate rural nursing homes. That’s why I introduced the Protecting Rural Seniors’ Access to Care Act and led the charge in Congress to stop this disastrous rule from taking effect. My team and I sent a letter, raising the alarm with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and stood firmly with rural providers who were being ignored by Washington bureaucrats.

The Trump administration’s repeal is a major win for rural Minnesota, and it validates everything we’ve been saying. Instead of forcing impossible staffing ratios on communities already facing severe workforce shortages, the administration listened to rural voices and protected seniors’ access to care close to home.

But here is the catch: A future administration could just as easily reinstate Biden’s mandate with the stroke of a pen. Congress should take up legislation to permanently block any administration from reviving this one-size-fits-all mandate and ensure our seniors are never again put at risk by unrealistic Washington rules.

Rural seniors and their loved ones deserve stability and peace of mind, and I’ll keep fighting until these protections are locked into law.