WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement after the Biden Administration released a proposed rule mandating minimum staffing requirements for America’s nursing homes:

“Ensuring and expanding access to health care in rural and underserved areas, especially for America’s seniors, must be a priority. Unfortunately, that will not happen under President Biden’s proposal to impose a federal mandate for nursing home staffing levels. The Biden Administration’s own estimates of the impact of their proposal reveal it would cost nursing homes more than $40 billion and disproportionately burden nursing homes in rural and underserved areas. This one-size-fits-all deal would ripple through local communities, siphoning staff away from other facilities in desperate need of personnel such as hospitals and hospice facilities, worsening already chronic staff shortages. While President Biden pursues harmful mandates that may shutter nursing homes across the country, Congress will continue to look at solutions that will actually improve access to care for all Americans.”