May 19, 2023 Washington, DC — Statement from Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit providers of aging services including nursing homes, on the introduction of the Ensuring Seniors’ Access to Quality Care Act in the Senate by Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Scott (R-SC):
“Certified nurse aides (CNAs) are integral to the quality care that nursing homes provide; more are desperately needed. LeadingAge and our nonprofit mission-driven members support every opportunity to recruit and train new CNAs. This legislation will do just that by helping to alleviate a longstanding barrier to training and by ensuring the availability of onsite programs to build potential employees’ knowledge and skills,” said Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit providers of aging services, including nursing homes. “In addition to providing a solid educational foundation, these training programs also serve as an introduction to aging services, exposing students to nursing homes’ daily work routines and community cultures. They’re critical. Particularly now, when nursing homes are in dire need of more staff, we must leverage every possible opportunity to bring qualified workers into the sector and build pipelines to help deliver quality care for our country’s aging population. This Senate bill is a much-appreciated recognition of these issues and will help to resolve longstanding workforce shortages. We appreciate the support of Senators Warner and Scott, and are eager to work with them and their House colleagues in moving these bills forward.”
This legislation is a companion to the House bill by the same name that was introduced May 11, 2023. Both the Senate and the House bills modify the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training lock-out mandated by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA). It eliminates the statute’s rigid provisions and grants CMS greater flexibility in reinstating providers’ valuable CNA training programs.
Research from PHI shows from 2020 to 2021 alone, the nursing assistant workforce lost 56,320 jobs — the largest single-year decline in the past decade. At the same time that the aging services workforce is shrinking, the population of adults age 65 and older in the U.S. is projected to nearly double, from 49.2 million in 2016 to 94.7 in 2060.
Currently, nursing homes assessed civil monetary penalties above a certain level on their annual survey automatically lose their authority to train staff to be CNAs for two years. The suspension is required even if the fines are unrelated to the quality of care given to residents or if the care deficiencies cited on the survey are unrelated to the nursing home’s CNA training program. If passed, today’s bill will allow providers that have demonstrated their return to compliance to re-start training programs rather than having to sit out a full two years.
“The dedication and compassion of CNAs are crucial in ensuring that older Americans receive the best possible care and quality of life. Part of our role is to provide training and essential services so they can continue to provide daily care, comfort, and compassion. We appreciate both Senators Warner and Scott’s work on alleviating this strain on our mission-driven providers,” said Dana Parsons, Vice President and Legislative Counsel, LeadingAge Virginia.
“CNAs are the backbone of caring for older Americans, providing essential services that allow seniors to live with dignity and independence. It is necessary for them to continue to have the hands-on training they need as they are the heart of long-term care,” said Josh Bagley, Executive Director, The View Alexandria by Goodwin Living, Alexandria, VA.
“It is through Senator Tim Scott’s determination and vision of a better future for our citizens that we can begin to correct the antiquated barriers to quality care that this bill seeks to address. Innovation and creation is cultivated through sound policies that give the freedom to our nation’s providers to enrich our field of service in ways uniquely appropriate for our diverse nation. This bill would be a meaningful and powerful catalyst to ensure proper training for those who care for our nation’s older adults, particularly as we continue to face workforce shortages in the long-term care sector. I remain proud of Senator Scott’s support and focus on a better path forward for all,” said David Buckshorn, Chairperson, LeadingAge South Carolina and CEO, Wesley Commons, Greenwood, SC.
