Section 1 Short Title
This Act may be cited as the “Put a Registered Nurse in the Nursing Home Act of 2015”.
Put a Registered Nurse in the Nursing Home Act of 2015
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.
Sec. 2 Establishment of minimum direct care registered nurse staffing requirement at nursing facilities and skilled nursing facilities under Medicare and Medicaid
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—
in clause (i)—
by striking “Except as provided in clause (ii), a” and inserting “A”; and
by striking all that follows “residents” and inserting a period; and
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.”
Medicaid Nursing Facilities— Section 1919(b)(4)(C) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r(b)(4)(C)) is amended—
in the heading, by striking “; facility waivers”;
in clause (i)—
by striking “With respect to” and all that follows through “clause (ii), must provide” and inserting “A nursing facility must provide”; and
by striking all that follows “residents” and inserting a period; and
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.”
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.