November and Beyond: Industry Stakeholders Weigh Their Hopes for Congress

According to him, in the event of an unsuccessful session, Congress should increase funding for current needs in the fight against COVID-19.

“It’s a shame that the treasury of many programs is empty,” he said.

Those in the long-term care industry, which has been particularly hard hit by labor shortages, say any upcoming elections are an opportunity to get their concerns across to lawmakers.

“Human resources issues are, in my opinion, the biggest challenge we face right now,” said Cliff Porter, senior vice president of government relations for the American Health Association/National Life Care Center, representing more than 14 000 long-term care facilities.

AHCA/NCAL and LeadingAge, representing non-profit aging service providers, are supporting two bills to address this issue.

The first, the Create America’s Health Workers Act, is a bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives that gives nursing facilities two years after the end of the public health emergency to certify nursing assistants hired under a training waiver and allows them to count on -working hours according to training requirements.

“Whether it’s a separate bill or it’s included in a bipartisan legislative package, Rep. Guthrie hopes this bill will see a vote in the House of Representatives before the end of the year to help ease the labor shortage in nursing homes,” Rep. Brett Guthrie’s spokesman said. (R-Ky.), One of the legislators who introduced the bill.

The second, the Seniors’ Access to Quality Care Act, is a bipartisan bill in the House and Senate that would allow seniors’ facilities that have been levied civil monetary penalties for deficiencies greater than $10,000 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. have in-house certified nursing assistant training programs under certain circumstances. These facilities are currently prohibited from doing so for two years.

“Frankly, at the moment we are working to get as many co-sponsors of these pieces of legislation as possible,” Porter said. “This traditionally makes it easier to include in the end-of-year package.”