Strong Staffing Standards Now

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Residents need your help! In the coming days, Congress will be considering H.R. 7513, a bill that would prohibit federal regulators from ever creating rules implementing safe staffing in nursing homes.

Since the staffing rule was proposed by the Biden Administration, the nursing home industry has been spending millions of dollars to oppose its implementation. Its latest effort is to get Congress to pass a bill that would prevent the federal government from EVER regulating staffing in nursing homes. Nursing home residents' lives are at stake.

In October, the Biden Administration proposed a modest staffing standard, that would affect mostly the worst homes in the United States. The proposed rule is targeted at those homes that provide the least amount of care. Despite this fact, H.R. 7513 would cause suffering for all residents, by preventing safe staffing in nursing homes.

Please stand with nursing home residents and workers and tell your members of Congress to reject H.R. 7513 and to support safe staffing in nursing homes.

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Dear [Decision Maker],

As a constituent, I am writing to ask you to oppose any effort to prevent the implementation of a minimum staffing standard in nursing homes. A bill in Congress, H.R. 7513, would prevent the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from fulfilling its regulatory duty of creating safe staffing rules in nursing homes. The extreme bill would prevent CMS from creating protections for nursing home residents that ensure safe and high-quality care.

Since President Biden announced his ambitious plan for nursing home reform on the heels of over 200,000 nursing home resident and worker deaths from COVID-19, the nursing home industry has done everything in its power to prevent greater protections for residents. Please stand with nursing home residents and reject H.R. 7513, or any other effort to stop a staffing standard in nursing homes.

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Over a hundred studies have shown that higher staffing rates in nursing homes result in better health outcomes for nursing home residents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, nursing homes with higher staffing levels had less COVID-19 cases and deaths.   Understaffing in nursing homes is the primary cause of harm to residents and workers.

There is a job quality crisis in nursing homes. Nursing home workers are underpaid and overworked. Currently, according to data from CMS, the average annual turnover of direct care staff is 53%. We must require facilities to create better jobs. A staffing standard requires nursing homes to direct the tens of billions of taxpayer dollars they receive annually to staffing and not profits.

President Biden's proposed staffing standard targets the worst-performing homes in the United States. These homes provide the lowest amount of care for residents, resulting in poor quality. The proposed standard will have little to no effect on well staffed homes providing high quality care. Additionally, it will be years before the standards go into effect, giving nursing homes sufficient time to meet the minimal standards. And for those facilities who may have difficulty meeting the standard, despite good faith efforts, will be entitled to a waiver of the regulation.

A strong minimum staffing standard would be the most significant increase in protections for nursing home residents in decades. It would help ensure that our nation's most vulnerable citizens are treated with dignity and respect and prevent injury and death.

Stand with nursing home residents, their families, and nursing home workers and support a strong minimum staffing standard in nursing homes.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
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[Your Email]