The U.S. Senate Committee on Aging Chairman Bob Casey (D-PA) led his colleagues, Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Budget Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA), in a July 27 letter to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) urging the agency to strengthen the Nation’s nursing home oversight system. The letter follows up on a May 18 Senate Aging Committee hearing and related report for which LeadingAge submitted written testimony.

As noted in our testimony, we agree with the Committee’s observations that the workforce crisis is very real—not only for nursing homes, but for the very state survey agencies and federal entities charged with nursing home oversight. LeadingAge has communicated our members’ concerns to CMS about late surveys, including a lack of timely follow-up visits needed to confirm whether operators have corrected past problems by a designated deadline. When the survey and certification process encounters delays, it makes resolving issues that much more challenging and impacts the timeliness and accuracy of the information reported.

LeadingAge is working to forge a new path of collaboration between aging services providers, policymakers, regulators, and consumers that will create a more effective and efficient oversight process for our country’s nursing homes.