LeadingAge advocates have been out in force to lobby for H.R. 1265, the bipartisan Nursing Home Workforce Quality Act. When a nursing home gets fined more than $10,000 -- despite the reason – it cannot train staff to be certified nursing assistants for 2 years. The bill would change the law to give CMS the choice to decide which penalty makes sense when a problem is found.

The House legislation would give grants to entities using a career pathways approach to training people for health professions. Curricula are to include basic work skills, career coaching, and connection to potential employers. Successful grant applicants would have a plan for providing supportive services like child care and transportation to participants in their projects and for coordinating with state and local workforce innovation and apprenticeship programs. Nursing homes are among the types of organizations that would be eligible to apply for grants according to this bill.

The Educating Medical Professionals and Optimizing Workforce Efficiency and Readiness (EMPOWER) for Health Act, H.R. 2781, introduced by Reps. Schakowsky (D-IL) and Burgess (R-TX) would reauthorize Public Health Service Act Title VII health care workforce development grant programs for another five years. The bill updates language authorizing the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement program and the Geriatric Academic Career Awards program.

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