Shelby Grebbin

In light of the upcoming nursing home staffing mandate, industry leaders are concerned about how the measure will be enforced. And, they're still trying to cope with what they describe as a punitive approach to surveys.

The proposed minimum staffing mandate for nursing homes has left the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and is now pending final approval.

With Medicare Advantage penetration on the rise, one industry leader recently described his concerns around MA rates for skilled nursing providers as a “race to the bottom.”

Skilled nursing facilities are set to see changes to the Quality Reporting Program (QRP), with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) making moves to address social determinants of health (SDOH) – mainly, adding factors such as living situation, food, utilities, and transportation.

The nursing home minimum staffing rule has been finalized, impacting all nursing homes that receive federal funding through Medicare and Medicaid, according to an announcement from the White House.

While many industry leaders vociferously condemned the finalized federal staffing requirements for nursing homes that were released on Monday, analysts covering publicly traded companies in the sector were relatively circumspect.

| In a recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers found that the risk of fractures was numerically higher among subgroups

Nursing home operators are exploring various avenues to challenge or block the mandate, including legal action, congressional review, and leveraging the appropriations process.

As the long-term care industry comes to terms with the nursing home staffing mandate, there are many factors for operators to consider as they plan for the coming years.

Petersen Health Care’s sale of a number of its nursing homes is facing delays as a creditor is calling into question the Illinois-based nursing home