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Floor Speech

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Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, across the country, over 1.2 million Americans live in nursing homes. Many of our own parents, grandparents, and other loved ones are among them. Nursing facilities provide specialized attentive care to seniors in critical need of their services.

Long-term care facilities are especially indispensable in small towns and rural areas like much of my home State of Nebraska. In those areas, a larger percentage of the population is over 65.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration has released a rule this fall that could force many nursing facilities around the country to close their doors. The new rule, introduced in September by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, mandates new minimum staffing standards for long-term care facilities. It requires each facility to staff a registered nurse on site 24/7 and would require staff to provide each resident with at least 3 hours of direct care per day. The administration believes this rule would improve the quality of care in our nursing homes.

Unfortunately, the rule, as written, would simply force many facilities to shut down, denying care to seniors entirely.

According to CMS, 75 percent of nursing homes would have to increase staffing to comply with these proposed standards, but across our country, these homes already face historic staffing shortages. According to Federal labor statistics, nursing homes lost more than 200,000 workers from February of 2020 to December of 2022. The industry is still rebuilding its workforce after a devastating pandemic.

Under this rule, nursing homes would be forced to go to great lengths to find staff in the midst of these overwhelming shortages. If they failed, they would likely need to shut their doors and deprive seniors of care.

Even one nursing home closure could be detrimental to seniors in certain rural communities. Highly populated urban areas may host several long-term care facilities, a lot of different options are available, but for these facilities in rural areas, they are few and far between. If one facility closes, the next closest one could be many miles or even hours away. It might not be feasible for every senior to move so far from their home.

So this mandate from CMS, it would devastate facilities across Nebraska, across rural America, and across this country. It would devastate families who are relying on these facilities to serve their loved ones, and it would devastate the seniors who urgently need care.

After the release of this proposed rule in September, I joined the rest of the Nebraska Federal delegation in sending a letter to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure opposing these new standards. We have never received a response.

So I plan to introduce legislation that would prevent these misguided standards from going into effect. My bill would also establish an advisory panel on the nursing home workforce. The panel would host members representing various stakeholders, including members from rural areas and underserved areas.

The Biden administration must hear from voices outside the big cities on the coasts. This proposed rule is a one-size-fits-all attempt at a solution, but the so-called solution simply doesn't fit. It is a misguided mandate that will prove destructive for communities that most need the care.

I am going to keep fighting for our rural communities and for the seniors who rely on long-term care facilities, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same by joining me in support of this legislation to protect nursing homes and to protect the Americans they serve.

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