U.S. Representative Stauber Co-Sponsors Nursing Home Workforce Quality Act

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Jodi Boyne

U.S. Representative Pete Stauber (R-MN) is co-sponsoring legislation to eliminate the rigid provisions of the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training lock-out and grant the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) greater flexibility in reinstating provider CNA training programs.  

LeadingAge Minnesota members met with key staff from Rep. Stauber’s office while in Washington D.C. for the LeadingAge Leadership Summit last month to discuss concerns about workforce shortages in aging services and share ideas to resolve those challenges. Because of those conversations, Rep. Stauber co-sponsored legislation to reform the CNA training lock-out that is mandated in law,

Under current law, 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.

“Eliminating training programs for front-line staff threatens quality of care,” said Gayle Kvenvold, President & CEO, LeadingAge Minnesota. “As our field continues to struggle with severe workforce shortages, we must maintain the ability to train CNAs and build a pipeline of skilled, qualified staff. We appreciate Rep. Stauber’s support for this bill and look forward to working with him on advancing this legislation.”