Reps. Ron Estes (R-Kan.) and Josh Harder (D-Calif.) have reintroduced the “Ensuring Seniors’ Access to Quality Care Act,” which would permit nursing homes to continue operating in-house CNA training program even if they incur fines above a certain amount, so long as the fines are issued for reasons unrelated to direct resident care. 

“This bill ensures nursing homes continue to meet high standards without losing the staffing levels needed to provide high-quality care,” Estes said.

Michael Bassett, senior vice president of government relations for the American Health Care Association, applauded the legislation, citing the demand for more CNAs as the number of seniors pushes higher. 

“We strongly support this legislation and its goals to expand training pipelines and workforce capacity so that we can continue delivering high-quality, person-centered care. Addressing a key legislative priority of our Caregivers for Tomorrow initiative, this common sense legislation represents the type of practical, collaborative policy solutions needed to support our caregivers and the people they serve,” he said.

Current surveys show about 94-96 percent of skilled nursing facilities are still actively hiring or struggling to fill roles, and rural areas have reported having to limit admissions to their facilities close to 50 percent of their full capacity due to these challenges.

Under current law, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services prevents nursing homes from operating a CNA training program for two years if the facility is fined a certain amount. In making the decision to prohibit the training program, CMS does not account for the seriousness of the underlying deficiency or activity the fine was related to.

For example, the lawmakers said a nursing home could be fined for a deficiency unrelated to direct resident care, like having expired crackers in a food pantry, yet would still be prohibited from operating a CNA training program for two years.

While current law contains a waiver, it is seldom used and has proven inadequate, they said.

Questions or comments? Contact Patrick Connole at pconnole@parkplacelive.com.