Credit: cyano66/Getty Images Plus

Long-term care providers can expect some funding to help them meet the federal government’s planned minimum staffing requirement, according to the leader of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 

“When we talk to people on the front lines in nursing homes, the number one issue that we hear about is staffing, and I think funding is a part of that, but it is not the whole picture,” CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure told Bloomberg News Tuesday. 

Her comments came after the leader of the nation’s largest nursing home association called President Joe Biden’s minimum staffing proposal “unrealistic and impossible,” considering the ongoing workforce shortage.

“We would love to hire more nurses and nurse aides to support the increasing needs of our residents,” Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living, said last week. “However, we cannot meet additional staffing requirements when we can’t find people to fill the open positions nor when we don’t have the resources to compete against other employers.”

Brooks-LaSure added that the administration wants to strengthen the long-term sustainability of the industry’s workforce and attract more workers, according to the Bloomberg report. 

“I think we see this as a holistic approach, and certainly making sure that funding is adequate is a piece of that,” Brooks-LaSure said.