A federal judge in Texas struck down a major Biden administration policy on Monday that would have set the first-ever nationwide minimum staffing standards for nursing homes.
The rule, which was supposed to go into effect starting in 2026, aimed to improve care by requiring a registered nurse on-site 24/7 and mandating at least 33 minutes of daily care per resident from an RN. Rural facilities would have had an extra year to meet the requirements.
However, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled that while the intentions behind the policy were good, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) overstepped its authority. Nursing home groups had pushed back hard against the plan, arguing that the standards were simply unrealistic—especially during a time when the industry is facing a major staffing shortage.
Judge Kacsmaryk acknowledged that problems like understaffing and poor infection control in nursing homes are real, but said the proposed solution wasn’t the right fix. As Axios reported, the court agreed with operators who warned that enforcing the rule could actually do more harm than good, possibly leading to facility closures and displaced seniors.
Industry leaders welcomed the decision. Clif Porter, head of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, called the ruling “a win for seniors and the facilities that care for them.” He added, “This rule could’ve forced homes to shut down. Today’s decision protects access to care and reaffirms the limits of government authority.”
While some labor unions and elder care advocates had supported the staffing push, the court’s decision now puts those plans on hold—with no clear sign that the Biden administration will challenge the ruling.