While nursing home operators have been intensively fighting against a national staffing mandate since it was proposed more than two years ago, the general public and the media that serve it only more recently have developed a growing fascination with it.
It is uncertain what the greater awareness may ultimately mean for the rule or its enforcement but the added attention has clearly created a new height of public consciousness.
Last week, a quartet of national healthcare policy journalists headlined their podcast with the staffing rule, calling it “a surprisingly controversial issue that doesn’t have an easy answer.”
They noted that the first-ever staffing rule could wind up making things uncomfortable for those who introduced it.
“It’s not surprising that the nursing home industry is filing lawsuits to block new Biden administration rules requiring minimum staffing at facilities that accept federal dollars,” wrote “What the Health” podcast moderator Julie Rovner, KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, in a preview of the episode. “What is slightly surprising is the pushback against the rules from members of Congress. Lawmakers don’t appear to have the votes to disapprove the rule, but they might be able to force a floor vote, which could be embarrassing for the administration.”
The podcast panel included media reps Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call and Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat. They gave an even-handed review of the main issues in play, reflecting worker, union, lawmaker and operator points of view.
They noted that Congress getting as involved as it has is something “you rarely see.” A Congressional Review Act resolution introduced by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) is remarkable, they added, but with “not enough” colleagues on board with it, it “faces an uphill climb.”
Several panelists noted the “grueling” frontline work required in nursing facilities and the difficulty providers have finding both enough job candidates and the funding to pay them. The segment ended with one of the speakers saying the present workforce situation seems “untenable,” implying that some kind of regulation is needed.
