EDITORIAL: 'Safe staffing' bill won't solve the problem of nursing homes having too few workers

May 6—Democratic state lawmakers have been trying for a decade to pass a "safe staffing" bill to mandate minimum staffing ratios for nursing homes and hospitals. This year, they split the bill in two, one covering hospitals and one for nursing homes. The Assembly and Senate passed both, sending them to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to sign.

Shortages among nursing home staff is a real problem in search of a solution. But this bill isn't it.

The Buffalo News has documented outrageous examples of bad care and bad management that endanger some of the most vulnerable among us. The problems have been especially evident at the growing number of for-profit nursing homes. These are terrible problems that demand urgent solutions. But a union-driven law that micromanages staffing isn't the answer.

Staffing deficiencies were a known problem before the coronavirus pandemic, which only exacerbated them. The best performing nursing homes tend to have more people on staff attending to residents, compared to low-rated ones. But the bill awaiting the governor's signature places mandates on all facilities, which can hamper the best ones, stifling their ability to innovate by dictating how they allocate resources.

Besides, requiring all long-term care facilities to have a certain number of skilled staff members won't solve the staffing shortage. The nursing home industry is one of many that struggle to attract workers these days. Just as restaurants can't find enough people to wait tables or wash dishes, nursing homes cannot always count on job seekers wishing to care for the old or infirm.

The journal Health Affairs published a study in February showing that the average annual staff turnover rate at nursing homes nationwide was 128%. That's one of the factors that caused Covid-19 to spread among the facilities in 2020.

Nursing home operators say low Medicaid reimbursements keep them from offering higher pay. If the facilities raise pay scales to lure potential employees, the costs will get passed on to those who pay the bills for residents, which more often than not is the Medicaid system, funded by taxpayers. Nursing home operators estimate the mandates will cost them $1 billion per year.

The nursing home bill would require the state Health Department to set minimum standards that include at least 3.5 hours of nursing care per resident per day. And, certified nurse aides must provide 2.2 of those hours, and licensed practical nurses or registered nurses 1.1 hours. There's also a requirement for nursing homes to disclose their staffing levels to the public.

Unions representing nursing home workers are understandably happy with the bill's passage in the Legislature. There are advocacy groups, including the AARP, that say the bill doesn't go far enough; they wanted even stricter mandates.

We have said before in this space that the state should consider an oversight system similar to the one used for underperforming public schools, which are subject to receivership and oversight.

That would allow for better targeting of penalties where they are needed, rather than a one-size-fits-all remedy that can't help but produce unintended consequences.

----What's your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.

___

(c)2021 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.)

Visit The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) at www.buffalonews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.