[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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