FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Kate Dwyer May 30, 2000 (202) 225-3031 RYAN ANNOUNCES NEW NURSING HOME LEGISLATION
RACINE – First District Congressman Paul Ryan gathered today at Lincoln Lutheran Nursing Home with nursing staff and residents and representatives of the Wisconsin Health Care Association and the Wisconsin Association of Homes and Services for the Aging to discuss legislation he introduced last week. This legislation will allow Wisconsin’s “single-task” personal aides to continue performing certain basic care-giving tasks, such as feeding nursing home residents and transporting them in wheelchairs, as long as they have received specific training to perform these tasks and have met all competency requirements. Enables trained “single-task” workers to continue improving quality of life for nursing home patients
“Wisconsin nursing homes deliver some of the best care in the nation. In part, this is because the hard work of nurses and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA's) is supplemented by the help of personal aides, often referred to as ‘single-task’ employees, who are trained by Registered Nurses to help with feeding and certain other non-medical - but important - tasks. Sadly, federal bureaucrats would break-up this effective partnership, ignoring the best interests of nursing home residents and the nurses and CNA's that staff these homes,” said Ryan.
The federal Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA,) which regulates the nation’s health care facilities, recently informed the state of Wisconsin that “single-task” personal care workers are, in its view, not qualified to perform the job for which they were trained and that Wisconsin’s “single-task” employee policy violates federal law.
“Wisconsin nursing homes have been using trained “single-task” personal aides for over 7 years, with very positive outcomes. According to a January 1999 report by scholars at the University of California, San Francisco’s Dept. of Social and Behavioral Sciences: in 1997, 8.3% of nursing homes nationwide were cited for nutritional deficiencies, compared to only 2.5% of Wisconsin nursing homes. And Wisconsin Health and Family Services Secretary Joe Leean attests there have been no poor outcomes nor care violations related to Wisconsin’s single-task workers,” noted Ryan.
Congressman Ryan’s legislation – H.R. 4547, the Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Services Quality Improvement Act of 2000 – would:
- Allow skilled nursing facilities nationwide to use “single-task” personal care workers to assist with feeding, transporting residents in wheelchairs, and certain other basic tasks – once these employees have received specific training and have met all competency requirements.
- Give states the responsibility for developing and approving all “single-task” aide-training programs.
- (States that do not currently have a program in place can develop one in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services.)
- Provide states with the authority to use “single-task” employee programs for the next five years.
- Require the Department of Health and Human Services to collect data from nursing homes and submit an annual report to Congress about the status of care and the well-being of residents under these programs.
“Well over 100 Wisconsin nursing homes have grown to rely on the dedicated service of limited-task personal aides. We shouldn’t allow the Washington bureaucracy to pull the rug out from under these facilities and their residents,” said Ryan. “This upcoming Washington mandate is a problem looking for a solution.”
- Prohibit nursing homes in states – like Wisconsin – that currently require minimum staffing levels to use “single-task” personal aides to meet those levels.
“This legislation is good for nursing home residents who benefit from the extra personal assistance that these aides provide. It is also good for busy nurses and CNA's who work in nursing homes, freeing them up a bit so that they have more time to use their extensive training to meet residents’ other needs,” added Ryan.
The Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Services Quality Improvement Act of 2000 has received the endorsement of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, the Wisconsin Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, the Wisconsin Health Care Association, the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, and the American Health Care Association.
For additional information, or to schedule an interview, please contact Kate Dwyer at (202) 225-3031.