Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird on Wednesday sued the Biden-Harris administration over its new mandate that threatens a mass shutdown of nursing homes and senior care across the country.
Federal law currently requires that nursing homes have a registered nurse on staff for eight hours a day, and then a nurse on call at all remaining times to respond to the needs of the residents. The new Biden-Harris mandate will now require a nurse on staff for 24 hours a day. It also mandates more nurses for each nursing home depending on the number of residents, rather than the needs of the nursing home. The new patient-to-nurse staffing ratios are unrealistic for most nursing homes, with 94% of nursing homes currently out of compliance. There is already a widespread shortage of nursing home staff, and this mandate will drive many nursing homes out of business, jeopardizing critical care for the nation’s seniors.
Families will bare the brunt of these nursing home losses by not having access to local senior care for their loved ones. The mandate will also cost $43 billion over ten years, straining nursing homes and leading to increased patient fees.
“Our seniors spend a lifetime investing in our communities,” said Attorney General Bird. “Now, we need to invest in them by ensuring they have access to the care they need. I am suing to stop the Biden-Harris attack on senior care that will force nursing homes out of business, increase costs for families, and remove access to senior care altogether.”
The States make the case that the Biden-Harris mandate sidesteps Congress and exceeds the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ authority.
Iowa co-led the lawsuit with Kansas and South Carolina. They were joined by Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Read the full lawsuit here.
