Maine Participates in AHCA/NCAL Congressional Briefing in DC

• By: Angela Westhoff
• On: 06/06/2024 10:38:02
• In: Legislative/Government Affairs

Earlier this week, members of the Maine Health Care Association attended meetings in Washington DC as part of AHCA/NCAL Congressional Briefing. This year's event drew record participants as over 600 long term care providers descended upon Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers. All the participants were focused on sharing this important message: A federal staffing mandate won't fix the labor crisis. The CMS staffing rule will only serve to reduce access to care for our nation's older adults who need long term care.

Angela Westhoff, MHCA President and CEO was joined by John Bolduc, Executive Director of Odd Fellows' and Rebekahs' Home of Maine; Gabrielle Herbig, President of Sweet Seniors; Meghan Welch, Market President for Genesis Healthcare; and Dana Ritchie, Assoc. VP of Constituency Services and Workforce at AHCA.

This group met in person with Senator Collins, Senator King, and Representative Pingree as well as with staff from Representative Golden's office to highlight the nationwide shortage of caregivers that is particularly acute in Maine. Over 2/3 of Maine's nursing homes would not be able to meet the new federal staffing requirements due in large part to the mandate of 24/7 registered nurse (RN) coverage. Like many other states, Maine relies on licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and on-call RNs due to difficulties in hiring RNs for overnight shifts. The new rule does not allow LPNs to count toward the 24/7 on-site RN requirement.

According to analysis by AHCA/NCAL, 94% of nursing homes do not meet these new staffing requirements and this mandate will force more nursing homes to either limit the number of residents they care for, or they will close altogether. Maine already has 26 nursing home closures over the last 10 years; four of those closures have been announced in 2024 alone.
Maine's congressional delegation understands how devastating this rule would be for access to care in our rural state. We thank them for their continued support of common sense solutions to invest in training and education programs and innovative models that support more health care workers, and not unfunded mandates that will lead to more closures in the oldest state in the nation.


Members of MHCA meet with Senator Susan Collins in DC on June 4.

Staff contact: awesthoff@mehca.org