Members of Congress call on White House to investigate staffing agency price gouging

• By: Angela Westhoff
• On: 01/27/2022 15:36:18
• In: Workforce

This week our U.S. House of Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden joined nearly 200 other House members in a bipartisan letter to the White House raising the dire work force issue and concerns with nurse-staffing agencies. In the letter to the White House COVID-19 Response Team, members state:
 
“We are writing because of our concerns that certain nurse-staffing agencies are taking advantage of these difficult circumstances to increase their profits at the expense of patients and the hospitals that treat them. We urge you to enlist one or more of the federal agencies with competition and consumer protection authority to investigate this conduct to determine if it is the product of anticompetitive activity and/or violates consumer protection laws.”
 
MHCA thanks Representatives Pingree and Golden for signing onto this letter and shining a light on this serious issue. The costs of agency staffing are unsustainable and further exacerbates the staffing crisis and strain on the health care system.
 
Staff contact: awesthoff@mehca.org