This presentation reviewed state policy approaches to ensure adequate staffing of nurses and nurse aides in nursing facilities, with a particular focus on the potential role of Medicaid payment policy to address these concerns.
Specifically, the presentation examines three types of policies:
- state minimum staffing standards that exceed federal requirements;
- Medicaid payment methods that incentivize facilities to spend more of their revenue on staff wages; and,
- preliminary data on Medicaid payment rates.
The presentation reviewed prior research about the effects of these policies and discusses the extent to which these policies help explain the wide state variation in staffing rates by state in 2019. The presentation concluded with a discussion of how nursing facility staffing has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and potential areas for future Commission work.