AHCA’s Parkinson: Unfunded Federal Staffing Mandate would be ‘Lights Out’ for Nursing Homes Across the Country (SNF)

In case you missed it, American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) President and CEO Mark Parkinson said that an unfunded federal staffing mandate would be “lights out” for many nursing homes around the country. In recent interviews with Skilled Nursing News (SNN) and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, Parkinson discussed the Biden administration’s proposed minimum staffing requirement and the negative consequences on nursing homes residents. SNN reports:

An unfunded daily minimum standard of 4.1 hours would put essentially every nursing home building in the country out of compliance, American Health Care Association President and CEO Mark Parkinson warned.

“The single biggest thing that I’m worried about is an unfunded 4.1 mandate … if that occurs [it] would be lights out for multiple facilities across the country,” he said during a one-on-one interview with Skilled Nursing News.

More specifically, implementing a staffing minimum of 4.1 hours per resident day would require 94% of nursing homes to increase staffing levels just to be in compliance, according to data from accounting and consulting firm CliftonLarsonAllen in partnership with AHCA. To read more, click HERE.