Biden’s Plan to Bolster Nursing Home Staffing Draws Scrutiny

Opponents and supporters of the Biden administration’s proposed staffing requirements for nursing homes made their closing arguments this week, hoping to either steer the final regulation more to their liking—or have the proposal it scrapped altogether.

Unpopular from the outset, the proposed rule never gained much traction with nursing home industry officials, who said it was costly, unworkable and impossible to implement because of staffing shortages.

Supporters of nursing home residents, who’ve pushed for a federal staffing mandate for decades, were equally skeptical. They claimed the proposed requirements weren’t tough enough to make a meaningful improvement in the quality ...