Sponsors (6)
The bill strengthens patient safety and state enforcement by restricting training program approvals and expanding NPDB access, but it risks worsening local caregiver supply, imposing administrative costs, and raising privacy concerns for practitioners.
Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries (especially seniors and long‑term care residents) face a lower risk of poor care because facilities with repeated serious deficiencies can have facility‑run nurse aide training programs disapproved for up to two years.
States and HHS gain a clearer enforcement tool to hold facilities accountable and ensure training programs meet quality standards, improving oversight of long‑term care education.
Facilities that correct deficiencies and avoid further harm can regain approval after demonstrating improvement for two years, creating a clear incentive and pathway for quality improvement.
Facilities that lose approval for their nurse aide training programs may exacerbate local staffing shortages and reduce the local supply of certified nurse aides, potentially raising care costs or limiting access for residents.
Hospitals, providers, taxpayers, and state governments could face increased administrative and compliance costs — including costs to meet new requirements, to apply for rescission determinations, and to run expanded background checks.
Expanded access to NPDB records allows more employers to see practitioners' disciplinary histories, increasing the risk of privacy harms and potential misuse of records in employment decisions for healthcare workers.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Allows HHS to disapprove facility-run nurse aide training programs after serious CMPs and expands NPDB access to Medicare/Medicaid providers and suppliers.
Official title: Amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act with respect to nursing facility requirements, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 30, 2026 by Mark R. Warner · Last progress April 30, 2026
Removes certain exceptions in federal nurse aide training and competency rules and gives the HHS Secretary new authority to disapprove facility-run nurse aide training/competency programs for up to two years when a facility has been assessed a substantial civil monetary penalty for substandard quality of care and has not corrected the problems. It also expands which health care organizations can query the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) for background checks to include Medicare/Medicaid providers and suppliers. The bill requires HHS to issue implementing regulations within 180 days and applies the new disapproval rule to civil penalty determinations made on or after enactment.