H.R. 952 — Introduced in House

I 114th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 952 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES February 12, 2015 Ms. Schakowsky (for herself, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Rangel, Ms. Lofgren, Ms. Roybal-Allard, and Mr. Payne) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to establish a minimum direct care registered nurse staffing requirement at nursing facilities and skilled nursing facilities under Medicare and Medicaid and for other purposes. 1. Short Title This Act may be cited as the Put a Registered Nurse in the Nursing Home Act of 2015. 2. Establishment of minimum direct care registered nurse staffing requirement at nursing facilities and skilled nursing facilities under Medicare and Medicaid (a) Medicare Skilled Nursing Facilities Section 1819(b)(4)(C) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–3(b)(4)(C)) is amended— (1) in clause (i)— (A) by striking Except as provided in clause (ii), a and inserting A; and (B) by striking all that follows residents and inserting a period; and (2) by striking clause (ii) and inserting the following: (ii) Use of Direct Care Registered Nurse A skilled nursing facility must use the services of at least 1 registered professional nurse to provide assessment, surveillance, and direct care to residents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the preceding sentence, the term surveillance means the purposeful and ongoing acquisition, interpretation, and synthesis of residents’ data for clinical decisionmaking. . (b) Medicaid Nursing Facilities Section 1919(b)(4)(C) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r(b)(4)(C)) is amended— (1) in the heading, by striking ; facility waivers; (2) in clause (i)— (A) by striking With respect to and all that follows through clause (ii), must provide and inserting A nursing facility must provide; and (B) by striking all that follows residents and inserting a period; and (3) by striking clauses (ii) and (iii) and inserting the following: (ii) Use of Direct Care Registered Nurse A nursing facility must use the services of at least 1 registered professional nurse to provide assessment, surveillance, and direct care to residents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the preceding sentence, the term surveillance means the purposeful and ongoing acquisition, interpretation, and synthesis of residents’ data for clinical decisionmaking. . (c) Effective Date The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to payments made for items and services furnished on or after the first day of the first calendar quarter beginning on or after the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.