Texas AG sues Biden administration over nursing home staffing rule

By Brendan Pierson

(Reuters) - Texas's Republican top prosecutor on Wednesday sued the Biden administration in an effort to block a new federal rule on minimum staffing for nursing homes, saying it would force rural nursing homes out of business.

Attorney General Ken Paxton said in the lawsuit that the administration has not explained why the rules are needed or "taken into account the massive nationwide nursing shortage that will make compliance for many long-term care facilities a practical impossibility."

The rule, announced in April by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, would require nursing homes to have a registered nurse on duty 24 hours per day, and total nurse staffing of at 3-1/2 hours per resident per day. Federal law previously required nursing homes to employ a registered nurse for eight consecutive hours per day.

It applies to nursing homes that take part in the federally funded Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs, which make up a large majority of all nursing homes nationwide. The rule is set to be phased in over several years, with rural hospitals required to be in full compliance in five years.

Paxton claimed in his lawsuit that HHS overstepped its authority in passing the rule, which he said involved "major questions" that needed to be decided by Congress rather than a federal agency. He also said that the rule was "arbitrary and capricious."

HHS declined to comment on the lawsuit.

President Joe Biden's administration first proposed the rules last September. Biden, a Democrat, had pledged to crack down on nursing homes that endanger patient safety in response to abuse and neglect that were highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At least one multistate nursing home operator, LaVie Care Centers, has blamed the staffing rule in filing for bankruptcy.

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York)