Proposed federal staffing minimums for nursing homes could cost the industry $10 billion annually to hire more than 187,000 more caregivers, a July 19 report from the American Health Care Association and consulting firm Clifton Larson Allen found.
"This report makes it crystal clear that increasing staffing standards in nursing homes requires substantial and consistent government resources," said Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association. "Even then, nursing homes would have the impossible task of finding another 187,000 nurses at a time when vacant positions sit open without applicants for months on end. The unintended consequences of this sort of unfunded mandate would be devastating to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable residents who could be forced out of their nursing home."
The report estimated the impact of implementing a staffing minimum of 4.1 hours per resident day. Researchers found:
- Ninety-four percent of nursing homes, caring for more than 900,000 residents, would need to increase staffing levels in order to be in compliance with such a requirement.
- Eighteen percent of residents may be at risk of displacement as facilities are forced to potentially reduce capacities to meet higher staffing standards.