On May 8, the House Ways and Means Committee passed, by a vote of 25-18, legislation to address the nursing home two-year CNA training lockout that has remained in federal law for almost 40 years. The Committee passed an updated version of the Ensuring Seniors’ Access to Quality Care Act (H.R. 8244) that was introduced on May 6 by Representatives Ron Estes (R-KS) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) who introduced the original version of this bill. The updated CNA-lockout bill would allow nursing facilities to continue training CNAs even if they have received Civil Monetary Penalties (CMPs) above the $12,924 threshold provided the citations are unrelated to direct resident care.
The original version of the bill required the HHS Secretary to determine which nursing facilities could have their lockouts rescinded, whereas the updated bill text takes the Secretary out of the process. Another provision not included in the updated bill would have given Medicare and Medicaid providers access to the National Practitioner Data Bank to run background checks. The committee’s passage of the bill represents an important step in our efforts to ensure nursing homes can train more direct care workers, particularly considering CMS’s final minimum staffing rule on the horizon.
LeadingAge has worked tirelessly to address the CNA two-year training lockout and supports the final passage of the Ensuring Access to Quality Care Act to help achieve our goal of expanding the aging services workforce.
“LeadingAge is leveraging every possible policy opportunity to build the long-term care workforce,” LeadingAge president and CEO Katie Smith Sloan said in LeadingAge’s statement upon the bill’s Committee passage. “Our mission-driven nonprofit members value onsite training programs not only for the solid educational foundation they provide to nurse aide students, but also because their location allows for hands-on experience working with residents and staff – truly a win-win. We thank Representatives Estes and Connolly for their continued leadership on this issue and remain eager to work with them to see this bill passed into law. It is just one step of many that must be taken to advance toward our goal of increasing the aging services workforce.”
