On September 20, 2018, CMS issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to revise the emergency preparedness program requirements. Most notably, the proposed rule would allow nursing homes to review their emergency preparedness programs and to train staff to carry out those plans every two years rather than annually. The HHS Office of the Inspector General has previously indicated that poorly developed or outdated emergency preparedness programs have resulted in deficient responses to emergencies.
The Center for Medicare Advocacy and the Long Term Care Community Coalition (LTCCC) strongly believe nursing home residents will be at a greater risk of harm and even death if the emergency preparedness requirements were to be rolled back. To read our comments opposing CMS’s proposal, please see https://www.medicareadvocacy.org/center-and-ltccc-comments-on-snf-emergency-preparedness/.