The Trump Administration has been pointing to a segment of the industry — facilities with low federal ratings for infection control — and to some Democratic governors who required nursing homes to take recovering coronavirus patients.
Nationwide, more than 45,500 residents and staff have died from coronavirus outbreaks at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to a running count by The Associated Press.
CMS head Verma said her agency has been on top of things from the beginning, issuing numerous safety guidelines for nursing homes, setting new coronavirus reporting requirements, and providing Medicare payment for testing residents.
She says states have money from the federal government that they can use to support testing of nursing home staff.
The nursing home industry says just one-time testing for every resident and staffer would cost US$440 million, and facilities struggling financially would not be able to bear the expense of regular staff testing.
