Nurses CARE Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 331 To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to provide flexi- bility in training and competency requirements for skilled nursing facility and nursing facility nursing aides under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 15, 2021 Mr. KELLER (for himself and Ms. WILD) 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 provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to provide flexibility in training and competency require- ments for skilled nursing facility and nursing facility nursing aides under the Medicare and Medicaid pro- grams. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nurses Certification 4 And Recognition of Experience Act of 2021’’ or the 5 ‘‘Nurses CARE Act of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Mar 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H331.IH H331 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 331 IH SEC. 2. PROVIDING FLEXIBILITY IN TRAINING AND COM- 1 PETENCY REQUIREMENTS FOR SKILLED 2 NURSING FACILITY AND NURSING FACILITY 3 NURSING AIDES UNDER THE MEDICARE AND 4 MEDICAID PROGRAMS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Sections 1819(b)(5) and 6 1919(b)(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i– 7 3(b)(5), 1396r(b)(5)) are each amended— 8 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i)(I), by inserting ‘‘(or, 9 in the case of a specified individual (as defined in 10 subparagraph (H)(ii)), meets the requirement de- 11 scribed in subparagraph (H)(i))’’ after ‘‘subsection 12 (e)(1)(A)’’; and 13 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 14 paragraph: 15 ‘‘(H) COVID–19 TRAINING AND COM- 16 PETENCY REQUIREMENT FLEXIBILITY.— 17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 18 subparagraph (A)(i)(I), the requirement 19 described in this clause is, with respect to 20 a specified individual (as defined in clause 21 (ii)), that the individual demonstrates com- 22 petency in work as a nursing aide 23 through— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Mar 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H331.IH H331 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 331 IH ‘‘(I) the successful completion of 1 a nursing aide examination approved 2 by the State; 3 ‘‘(II) certification of competency 4 by a site administrator of a nursing 5 aide apprenticeship program approved 6 by the State; or 7 ‘‘(III) an assessment by the facil- 8 ity in each of the areas and skills de- 9 scribed in section 583.152(b) of title 10 42, Code of Federal Regulations (or a 11 successor regulation). 12 ‘‘(ii) SPECIFIED INDIVIDUAL DE- 13 FINED.—For purposes of this subpara- 14 graph, the term ‘specified individual’ 15 means an individual who, during the emer- 16 gency period described in section 17 1135(g)(1)(B)— 18 ‘‘(I) completed a nursing aide 19 training program and competency as- 20 sessment (whether online or other- 21 wise) approved by the State; and 22 ‘‘(II) completed a minimum of 80 23 hours of work as a temporary nurse 24 aide, in supervised practical nurse 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Mar 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H331.IH H331 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 331 IH aide training, in on-the-job nursing 1 aide training, or in in-service nursing 2 aide education, under the supervision 3 of a registered nurse or a licensed 4 practical nurse.’’. 5 (b) INCLUSION ON REGISTRY.—Section 6 1819(e)(2)(A) and 1919(e)(2)(A) of the Social Security 7 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–3(e)(2)(A), 1396r(e)(2)(A)) are 8 each amended by inserting ‘‘, or any specified individual 9 (as defined in clause (ii) of subsection (b)(5)(H)(ii)) who 10 meets the requirement described in clause (i) of such sub- 11 section’’ before the period at the end. 12 (c) EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES.— 13 The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall under- 14 take outreach and educational activities for purposes of 15 informing States of— 16 (1) the effects of the amendments made by this 17 section; and 18 (2) what actions States may take with respect 19 to the training and assessment of nursing aides in 20 such State that will comply with the provisions of 21 such amendments. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Mar 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H331.IH H331 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS