This bill makes permanent a temporary rule that was created during COVID-19 to help nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities hire and train nurse aides more quickly. Normally, nurse aides have to complete 75 hours of training and pass a certification exam before they can work, and these exams have to be given by the state. During the pandemic, the government relaxed these rules to help facilities that were short-staffed.

This bill keeps those relaxed rules in place for at least 24 months after the law passes. Specifically, it allows the hours that nurse aides worked during the emergency period to count toward their required 75 hours of training, even if they haven't finished formal training yet. It also lets nursing facilities give the competency exam themselves instead of waiting for the state to offer it, but only if the state doesn't offer the exam at least once a week.

The bill requires the government to study whether keeping these relaxed rules actually helped reduce the burden on nursing home staff, and to report back to Congress within a year. This gives policymakers time to see if the temporary measures should become permanent or if the old rules should come back.

Building America’s Health Care Workforce Act

Guthrie, Brett

Building America's Health Care Workforce Act This bill extends certain flexibilities relating to training and competency requirements for nurse aides in Medicare skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and Medicaid nursing facilities (NFs). Generally, SNFs and NFs may not hire nurse aides for longer than four months unless they meet certain training and certification requirements. The Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services waived some of these requirements during the COVID-19 emergency period so as to allow facilities to maintain adequate staffing levels; the blanket waiver ended in June 2022, though individual facilities, states, and counties may continue to apply for waivers during the emergency period. The bill extends these flexibilities for at least two years after the bill's enactment and specifies that (1) any time worked by a nurse aide during the emergency period counts toward the 75 hours required for initial training, and (2) a competency evaluation may be conducted at the SNF or NF where the nurse aide is employed if the state does not offer such an evaluation at least once a week.