Today’s announcement will improve wages and safety for care workers and improve the care for aging and disabled people across Long-term care settings
WASHINGTON D.C.—Today, the Biden Administration took historic action to shore up the country’s long-term care infrastructure. The administration announced two landmark final rules that fulfill President Joe Biden’s commitment to safety in care, improving access to long-term care and the quality of caregiving jobs.
The first rule, The Nursing Home Minimum Staffing Rule, will:
- Require staffing levels that ensure any resident of a nursing home is getting consistent care. Before this rule, there was no requirement that a nursing home resident was given care daily.
- Require a registered nurse onsite at all hours, ensuring better care and better working conditions for nursing home staff.
The second rule, The Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services Rule, will:
- Require 80 percent of Medicaid payment for home and community-based services and care goes directly to worker wages
- Require transparency for states in their rate setting process and creation of advisory boards of stakeholders including care workers and care recipients to ensure wages increase at the rate they need to to ensure quality care and good wages
Below is a statement by Ai-jen Poo, executive director of Caring Across Generations:
“Direct care workers are vital to every aspect of our Nation’s strength. They care for our aging and disabled loved ones so that they can live independently and with dignity. They enable our family caregivers to work, and our families to thrive.
“It is time we reduce the strain on our caregivers, and it is past time we make permanent investments to strengthen our country’s care infrastructure for our families, loved ones, the economy and our collective future.”
“Care workers wake up every morning and demonstrate their commitment to the families they care for. We must show our commitment to them, through action. That is what these rules are: action. We applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for their continued leadership on this issue, demonstrating care for those who care for us.”
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Caring Across Generations is a national organization of family caregivers, care workers, disabled people, and aging adults working to transform the way we care in this country so that care is accessible, affordable and equitable— and our systems of care enable everyone to live and age with dignity.
To achieve our vision, we transform cultural norms and narratives about aging, disability and care; win federal and state-level policies; and build power amongst the people touched by care. For more information, visit caringacross.org.