Earlier this week, a federal judge threw out a Biden-era nursing home staffing mandate. There are 143 of these facilities in Arizona. Opponents of the mandate called it unrealistic.
The judge ruled that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid exceeded its authority when it required federally funded facilities to have a nurse on staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and that nursing homes must provide a minimum amount of hours of care per day, per resident.
Both major nursing home associations applauded the ruling. One called the staffing mandate a “20th century solution that should be blocked by Congress once and for all.” Advocates, including PHI, which represents the direct care workforce, said the ruling will only make things more challenging for workers, residents and family caregivers.
It’s unclear what will happen next since the Trump administration was recently defending the staffing mandate in court.
Exempt from this mandate were Arizona’s assisted-living facilities since they are not federally regulated.
