Advocacy News 2025Dec04

Advocacy WIN! CMS Repeals Nursing Home Minimum Staffing Standards

An interim final rule repealing the nursing home minimum staffing standards was released to the Federal Register on December 2. Read the LeadingAge press release on this interim final rule here. It is important to note that the rule released on December 2 does not repeal the entire rule that was finalized in May 2024. The interim final rule repeals only the staffing standards portion of the May 2024 rule. Requirements for enhanced Facility Assessment and Medicaid payment transparency reporting remain in effect. The December 2 rule includes a comment period for soliciting public feedback, ending in early February. It is likely that we will see a rule proposed in the future that addresses nursing home staffing in some way; CMS will use comments received on this interim final rule to guide future rulemaking. For more information on this interim final rule and the life of the minimum staffing standards, check out the LeadingAge serial post.

LeadingAge WIN: Care Compare Updates

Following a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on November 13 requesting consideration of specific priorities following the end of the federal government shutdown, LeadingAge was notified that Nursing Home Care Compare was updated on November 20. The Health Inspection domain and rating had been frozen since August and was scheduled to update on October 29, along with the Staffing and Quality Measures domains and the overall Five Star rating as part of the quarterly refresh; however, the quarterly refresh could not take place during the shutdown. LeadingAge requested CMS to consider an off-cycle refresh rather than waiting for the next quarterly refresh in January 2026. We are pleased with this update that includes updates to all three domains and the overall Five Star rating. The next quarterly refresh is scheduled for January and will include a revised long-stay antipsychotics measure that incorporates claims data in the measure calculations. Read more on that change here. Providers that note any errors in their Five Star Rating or domain ratings should reach out to CMS using the Care Compare HelpDesk email bettercare@cms.hhs.gov.