Mountain State Times

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), recently joined a group of senators led by U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) to introduce a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval. The resolution aims to overturn a final rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that imposes federal staffing mandates on long-term care facilities, potentially leading to the closure of many rural nursing homes.

In September 2023, Ranking Member Capito participated in a letter led by Senator Lankford to CMS when this rule was initially proposed, urging the Biden administration to rescind it.

“Unattainable employee requirements from the Biden administration will not help meet the staffing shortages we see at our rural health facilities, especially nursing homes,” said Ranking Member Capito. “In fact, setting unrealistic mandatory guidelines will only increase the shortage of critical facilities that patients and families rely on for valuable care in West Virginia. I am proud to join Senator Lankford in the effort to overturn this misguided rule.”

Marty Wright, CEO of the West Virginia Health Care Association, expressed similar concerns: “Given the ongoing workforce challenges throughout the entire healthcare system, the Biden administration’s rule mandating arbitrary, unattainable staffing regulations at levels unsupported by the current workforce is nothing more than political gamesmanship with our loved ones and most vulnerable as the pawns. This misguided federal rule will not magically cause the flood of workers expected by the Biden administration but instead will potentially lead to closure of needed beds and access to care problems, especially for our rural areas of the state. We appreciate the work of Senator Capito to fight for meaningful solutions to benefit our loved ones and overturn this broad, unfunded mandate by the Biden administration.”

Full text of the resolution of disapproval can be found here.

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