Blog
Federal Legislation Gaining Momentum
- By: Angela Westhoff
- On: 08/31/2022 14:59:03
- In: Legislative/Government Affairs
After targeted lobbying efforts, including meetings and facility tours with MOCs, this bill currently has 22 cosponsors, and a Senate version of the bill is expected to be introduced this Fall.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-NC) reintroduced S. 4381 Ensuring Seniors Access to Quality Care Act in June 2022. Under current law, CNA training programs are automatically revoked for two years or cannot be initiated if a SNF is issued $11,995 or more in civil monetary penalties (CMPs). This CMP amount could be imposed for a reason that did not reflect quality of care, harm to a resident, or an episode that reflects systemic problems.
This bipartisan bill will ensure that CNAs have access to the quality training needed to provide care to residents. This bill will specifically allow nursing facilities to resume their in-house education programs if:
- The facility has corrected the deficiency for which the CMP was assessed;
- The deficiency for which the CMP was assessed did not result in an immediate risk to patient safety and is not the result of patient harm resulting from abuse or neglect;
- The facility has not received a repeat deficiency related to direct patient harm in the preceding two-year period.
This bill will also give providers access to the National Practitioner Data Bank to conduct background checks and help identify the best candidates. Through consistent and resilient efforts by AHCA/NCAL, a House version of this bill will be introduced in the upcoming weeks as Congress returns from District work.
The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, S. 1024 / H.R. 2255 is a bipartisan and bicameral bill gaining great support in both the House and the Senate. Introduced by Sens. Richard Durbin (D-IL), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in the Senate and Reps. Bradley Schneider (D-IL), Rom Cole (R-OK), and Tom O'Halleran (D-AZ) in the House. Both bills have gained bipartisan support with 25 Senate cosponsors and 70 Representative cosponsors. This bill would recapture unused visas from previous fiscal years for doctors, nurses, and their families. This legislation allows the entry of nurses with approved immigrant visas and allows physicians with approved immigrant petitions to adjust their status, so that they can work in long term care facilities and have a durable immigration status. In addition to setting aside these previously unused visas for physician and nurses, this bill also would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and State Department to expedite the processing of recaptured visas for highly trained nurses.
Staff contact: awesthoff@mehca.org