    [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 38 (Wednesday, February 26, 2025)]
    [Senate]
    [Pages S1399-S1400]
    From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

          By Mrs. FISCHER (for herself and Mr. Lankford):
      S. 750. A bill to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services
    from implementing, enforcing, or otherwise giving effect to a final
    rule regarding minimum staffing for nursing facilities, and to
    establish an advisory panel on the nursing home workforce; to the
    Committee on Finance.
      Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, across America, 1.3 million people live
    in nursing homes. Many of us have parents, grandparents, or other loved
    ones who rely on these homes for care and community in their golden
    years. We understand just how vital nursing homes are--whether it is in
    urban, suburban, or rural areas--to help seniors in our country thrive.
      But, unfortunately, a Federal rule that is still in place from the
    Biden era is putting many of America's nursing homes in jeopardy,
    especially those in our rural communities. Last year, under President
    Biden, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized a rule
    that placed strict, unrealistic regulations on nursing homes. The rule
    requires a registered nurse to be present 24/7 in these homes and
    requires 3\1/2\ daily hours of dedicated nursing care for each
    resident. If this rule is not stopped, the regulations will be imposed
    on every nursing home in America over the next few years.
      It does sound nice to be able to have a nurse on hand in nursing
    homes every moment of the day or night, but that is not the reality.
    The reality is that

    [[Page S1400]]

    these homes are already facing historic staffing shortages. Across the
    country, nursing homes lost more than 200,000 workers from February
    2020 to December 2022. These shortages have already caused many nursing
    homes to close down.
      Since 2015, 44 nursing homes and 35 assisted living facilities have
    shut their doors in my State--in Nebraska--alone. These closures
    deprived Nebraskans of over 3,000 beds. They hurt seniors who wanted to
    stay in their home community to be close to their family, to be close
    to their friends.
      This CMS rule will worsen this crisis. According to the Agency
    itself, 75 percent of America's nursing homes will have to increase
    staffing to comply with this regulation. Under the Biden
    administration's rule, nursing homes now have to scramble so that they
    can find staff in the midst of these really overwhelming shortages. If
    they fail, they have to shut their doors; they have to deprive seniors
    of care and housing.
      That is why, today, I reintroduced legislation to stop this Biden-era
    rule in its tracks. My Protecting Rural Seniors' Access to Care Act
    will prevent the rule's misguided requirements from going into full
    effect. It will also establish an advisory panel on the nursing home
    workforce, representing various stakeholders, including members from
    rural and underserved areas. This will ensure that the government hears
    voices outside the big cities--those big cities on the coasts--when it
    comes to our nursing homes.
      Nursing homes are few and far between in rural areas of our country.
    If one facility closes, the next closest one could be many miles or
    even many hours away. Just one closure could be detrimental to seniors
    in some of our communities.
      But if our nursing homes stay open, seniors won't have to face that
    upheaval of finding a new place to live, of moving, of leaving their
    home communities, leaving their loved ones, leaving their friends, and
    having that upheaval in their final years. They won't have to leave
    their family. They won't have to leave loved ones. They won't have to
    experience the loneliness, the uncertainty, the depression that can
    come along with moving to an unfamiliar place.
      My bill advocates for these seniors, for their care, and for their
    families. It fights for our rural communities and for our nursing homes
    in my State of Nebraska and across this country. I will keep pushing
    for this legislation until the President signs it into law so that we
    can protect our seniors from a rule that would only harm them, harm
    their families, and harm their caretakers.

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