Tester Joins Republicans On Resolution To Overturn Biden Administration Nursing Home Staffing Mandate

U.S. Senator Jon Tester has joined Republican colleagues in introducing a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn the Biden Administration’s first-ever minimum staffing mandate for nursing homes that was finalized last month.

A Congressional Review Act resolution, or CRA, is an oversight tool Congress may use to overturn final rules issued by federal agencies by a simple majority vote.

“Too many folks in Washington don’t understand the challenges that long-term care facilities in rural areas face,” said Tester. “At a time when nursing homes across Montana are struggling with workforce shortage issues, it makes no sense for unelected bureaucrats in the Biden Administration to hand down a one-size-fits-all policy that would force these critical facilities to shutter their doors. That’s why I’m teaming up with Republicans to shut this rule down, and I will continue to take my cues from local providers and Montanans to make sure our seniors have access to the care they deserve.”

Tester has led the charge to block the Biden Administration’s staffing mandate and ensure Montana seniors have access to quality long-term care. When the Administration finalized the mandate in April, Tester reiterated his longstanding concerns that it would not work for rural America. Tester introduced his bipartisan Protecting Rural Seniors Access to Care Act to prohibit the finalization of this same rule.

In September, Tester led a bipartisan letter demanding the Biden Administration abandon their proposed Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) staffing rule, arguing that he is “deeply concerned that now is the worst possible time for the United States to establish the nation’s first federal staffing mandate for long-term care facilities.” He also wrote to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure in June to express concerns about the Administration’s intent to issue staffing mandates for nursing homes. Tester also sent a letter calling on Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough to evaluate the impact of this proposed rule on veterans’ access to long-term care, especially in rural areas, and work to ensure their access.

In recent years, staffing issues and nursing home closures have limited access to senior care in rural communities. Since 2021, Montana has seen the closure of numerous nursing homes, and in 2022 alone, the state lost more than 850 nursing home beds, according to the Montana Health Care Association.