KFF Health NewsDec 3 2024 Covid's rampage through the country's nursing homes killed more than 172,000 residents and spurred the biggest industry reform in decades: a mandate that homes employ a minimum number of nurses.
"The Trump administration has proven itself really eager to reverse overreaching regulations," said Linda Couch, senior vice president for policy and advocacy at LeadingAge, which represents nonprofit elder care providers. "We think it's got a pretty good chance of being repealed, and hope so." "Staffing is everything in terms of nursing-home quality," said R. Tamara Konetzka, a professor of public health sciences at the University of Chicago.
The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment. The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment, but in a court filing it argued that nursing homes should be able to reach the required staffing levels. The nursing home industry says many homes cannot afford to increase their workforces, and that, even if they could, there is a scarcity of trained nurses, and not enough people willing to work as aides for an average $19 an hour. A registered nurse earns $40 an hour on average in a nursing home, less than what they could make at a hospital, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.