S. 750 — Protecting Rural Seniors’ Access to Care Act

This section prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services, beginning on the date of enactment, from implementing, enforcing, or otherwise giving effect to the final rule entitled “Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Minimum Staffing Standards for Long-Term Care Facilities and Medicaid Institutional Payment Transparency Reporting” published on May 10, 2024 (89 Fed. Reg. 40976), and from promulgating any substantially similar rule. (As background, the rule requires Medicare- and Medicaid-certified long-term care facilities, or nursing homes, to meet minimum direct care staffing thresholds, including 3.48 hours per resident day overall and specific ratios for registered nurses and nurse aides.)

This section establishes an Advisory Panel on the Nursing Home Workforce (Panel) within the Department of Health and Human Services, to be convened by the Secretary not later than 60 days after enactment and composed of 17 members appointed by the Secretary not later than 60 days thereafter, including one representative each from the Secretary (as chair), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Health Resources and Services Administration; two each from registered nurses, licensed professional nurses, nurse aides, physicians, workforce experts, and state nursing boards (with one in each frontline pair representing a rural area); and one representative each from rural nonprofit and for-profit skilled nursing facility administrators. Panel members serve terms not exceeding two years, with vacancies filled in the same manner as original appointments; 13 members constitute a quorum; and the Panel is subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The Panel must meet not later than 180 days after appointments and at least twice annually, with real-time virtual public access and posting of recordings and transcripts on a Department website within 30 days; and must submit an initial report not later than 60 days after its first meeting—and annual updates thereafter—to the Secretary and specified congressional committees, with publication on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services website, assessing the nursing home workforce (i.e., health professionals providing direct resident care in skilled nursing facilities under Medicare or nursing facilities under Medicaid) with emphasis on shortages and access barriers for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in rural and underserved areas, analyzing effects of related regulations and guidance, recommending workforce strengthening measures (including reduced regulatory burdens and training investments), and including other relevant information.