December 7, 2021

In this Issue:

1. New Consumer Voice Report Details Lack of Adequate Staffing Standards in Nursing Homes; Briefing on Thursday
2. Members of Congress Send Letter to Congressional Leaders Urging the Inclusion of Nursing Home Provisions in Build Back Better
3. New Financial Caregiving Hub from WISER
4. Resources from CFPB on Scams and Preventing Financial Abuse

New Consumer Voice Report Details Lack of Adequate Staffing Standards in Nursing Homes; Briefing on Thursday

Chronic understaffing has been a serious problem in nursing homes for decades and has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The research is clear that inadequate staffing contributes to lower quality of care and poor health outcomes for residents, yet no federal staffing standard exists, and only one state requires a minimum research-backed standard of 4.1 hours per resident day.

A new report by Consumer Voice documents staffing standards in each state, analyzing the contrast to research-based standards recommended by medical and healthcare professionals to ensure quality of care.

Key findings:

• With one exception - the District of Columbia - state standards for total nursing staff time fall short of research-backed recommended staffing standards.
• 29 states have minimum requirements that are significantly lower than research-based recommended staffing standards; two states - Montana and Arizona - require less than 2 hours per resident day.
• Only six states require a RN 24/7 at all facilities.
  
  

See report summary and full report for detailed findings. Find more information on Consumer Voice's website.

Thursday Briefing to Address the Need for Federal Staffing Standards in Nursing Homes

Join Consumer Voice, with a panel of experts, this Thursday, December 9th at 1:00pm ET for a review of the research and data supporting the need for a federal minimum staffing standard and overview of the new report and its findings.

Register to Attend

Members of Congress Send Letter to Congressional Leadership Urging the Inclusion of Nursing Home Provisions in Build Back Better

Last week, Representative Jan Schakowsky, along with other members of Congress, sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urging the continued inclusion of critical nursing home provisions currently included in the Build Back Better Act. The Congressmembers urged their colleagues to stand with nursing home residents and seize this opportunity to take a meaningful step forward in increasing protections for nursing home residents.

Read the Letter

New Financial Caregiving Hub from WISER

The Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) has launched a Financial Caregiving Hub, a one-stop information source for financial caregivers and their care recipients. The online tool offers a suite of trusted, vetted resources for spouses, parents, other family members, and children. WISER developed the Financial Caregiving Hub to help prepare family caregivers for the impact of caregiving on their future financial security and to help caregivers oversee the financial caregiving tasks of their loved ones.

Visit the Financial Caregiving Hub at https://wiserwomen.org/caregiver-home.

Resources from CFPB on Scams and Preventing Financial Abuse

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has released several new resources.

The first set of resources are a part of an initiative to combat money mule scams. A money mule is someone who receives and moves money that came from victims of fraud. The CFPB created two new resources to help people recognize and avoid money mule scams:

• What is a money mule?
• Don’t be a money mule: A fraud prevention placemat & resource

CFPB also released two new guides to help family and friends of people living in assisted living communities and nursing homes prevent elder financial abuse.

• A full-length guide highlighting steps for fighting elder financial abuse and red flags to look out for.
• A bifold handout on reporting elder financial abuse, explaining where and how to file reports and find more help.