In the event of a bad session, he said, Congress should increase funding for ongoing COVID-19 needs.
“It is a shame that the coffers have been exhausted for many programmes,” he said.
Long-time care industry insiders, which have been hit particularly hard by the labor gap, say any upcoming election is an opportunity to bring their issues before lawmakers. .
Clif Porter, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for the American Healthcare Association / Centers for Assisted Living, represents more than 14,000 long-term care facilities.
AHCA/NCAL and LeadingAge — representing nonprofit aging service providers — support two bills to address the problem.
The first act, the US Construction Health Care Workforce Act, is a bipartisan bill introduced in the House that would give nursing facilities two years after the state of emergency. in public health ends to certify nursing assistants hired under a temporary training exemption and will allow them to count on-hours as required by training.
House of Commons spokesman Brett Guthrie said: “Whether as an independent bill or included in a bipartisan legislative package, Congressman Guthrie expects the legislation to have a vote in the House of Commons before the end of the year. to help alleviate labor shortages in nursing homes. (R-Ky.), One of the legislators introduced the bill.
Second, the Aging Access to Quality Care Act, which is a bipartisan bill in the House and Senate and would allow elderly living facilities to be covered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. and Medicaid assessments as civil penalties for deficiencies of more than $10,000 have in-house certified nurse assistant training programs under certain circumstances. Currently, those facilities are banned for two years.
“Honestly, at this point, we’re working to get as many co-sponsors for those pieces of legislation as possible,” Porter said. “That traditionally makes it easier to get the year-end package.”
