The South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations (SDAHO) advocacy team are actively lobbying against CMS’s proposed staffing rule, which impacts all healthcare not just nursing homes. SDAHO’s leadership is working with members and asking them to connect with CMS and share why this proposed rule will not work. South Dakota simply does not have enough RN’s and CNA’s to fill healthcare jobs today and if CMS finalizes this rule, it could be detrimental for nursing homes. In addition, SDAHO’s CEO Tim Rave was in Washington D.C. talking with South Dakota’s congressional delegation about several issues, including the CMS proposed unfunded staffing mandate. In Congressman Dusty Johnson’s weekly column, he lifted-up his meeting with SDAHO and his own efforts to stop CMS.
Oct. 6, 2023: The Big Three by Rep. Dusty Johnson.
BIG Idea
This week, I met with the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations (SDAHO) to discuss the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed rule to require nursing homes to have an onsite RN 24 hours, 7 days a week and mandate minimum hours for RNs and CNAs. This rule would force nursing homes across South Dakota to close because they can’t fulfill the requirement. In fact, the rule would cause nursing homes across America to close because Alaska is the only state that currently meets CMS’s baseline. If the outcome of this rule is thousands of nursing homes closing, that certainly isn’t the best for America. Like SDAHO, I oppose this decision, and I’ve been working in Congress to ensure CMS’s rule does not get finalized.
To view the full weekly report, click here.
To learn more about SDAHO’s efforts, visit our Newsletter Resources.
