# Plain Language Summary: Quality Care for Nursing Home Residents and Workers During COVID-19 and Beyond Act

This bill sets strict new requirements for nursing homes during the COVID-19 emergency to protect both residents and workers. The main goal is to prevent the spread of disease, ensure residents get proper care, and make sure workers are safe and informed about what's happening in their facilities.

The bill requires every nursing home to hire a full-time infection control specialist—someone trained specifically to prevent disease spread. Nursing homes must test residents for COVID-19 weekly (or screen them daily for symptoms if they don't have enough tests). Residents who temporarily move in with family members get the right to come back to their nursing home within 180 days after the emergency ends. Nursing homes can't kick residents out or transfer them without approval from state health officials, and they must give residents at least 72 hours notice and get written permission before any transfer happens. Additionally, facilities must make sure staff help residents stay connected with family through phone calls, emails, and video calls at least once a week.

For workers, the bill requires nursing homes to test employees for COVID-19 before each shift (or screen them daily for symptoms if tests aren't available). All employees must get at least two weeks of paid sick leave, and the facility must educate workers about how COVID-19 spreads. Nursing homes must also report any shortages of protective equipment to the state health department at least 24 hours in advance. If a nursing home doesn't have enough protective equipment or tests, they must tell state officials daily what they're doing to get them.

Nursing homes must report detailed information daily to state and federal health agencies, including the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths among residents and staff, broken down by age and race. They must notify residents and families within 12 hours if anyone gets diagnosed with COVID-19 or dies from it, and within 72 hours if three or more people show COVID-19 symptoms. This information gets posted on public websites so families and the public can see which nursing homes have outbreaks. Nursing homes that violate these requirements face penalties of $10,000 per day for each violation.

Quality Care for Nursing Home Residents and Workers During COVID–19 and Beyond Act

Schakowsky, Janice D.

Quality Care for Nursing Home Residents and Workers During COVID-19 and Beyond Act This bill modifies several requirements for Medicare skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and Medicaid nursing facilities (NFs) to address the public health emergency relating to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) and the overall standard and administration of care in such facilities. Specifically, during the public health emergency, SNFs and NFs must comply with specified quality of care, worker safety, and transparency requirements, subject to civil penalties. Requirements include (1) testing residents and employees for COVID-19 weekly or before shifts, respectively, and reporting any lack of available testing kits on a daily basis; (2) providing at least two weeks of paid sick leave to each employee; and (3) reporting the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, including demographic information, on a daily basis. The bill also establishes general requirements for SNFs and NFs with respect to minimum staffing levels and protections for whistleblowers and residents, subject to civil penalties, as well as training requirements for nurses. It also requires specific consent procedures in relation to the administration of certain psychotropic drugs and prohibits the use of pre-dispute arbitration agreements in such facilities.