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Sponsor urges SB 384 to count only hands-on care toward nursing-home staffing requirement
Summary
SB 384 would require Ohio nursing homes to count only direct, hands-on care — not administrative or supervisory time — toward the state's 2.5-hour-per-resident-day requirement. Sponsors cited research showing higher direct-care hours correlate with better resident outcomes and noted a 2024 CMS rulemaking effort that proposed 3.48 direct-care hours.
Senator Lisonbee, sponsor of SB 384, told the committee the bill would change Ohio's staffing accounting so that only time directly providing hands-on care counts toward the state's minimum daily average. The sponsor argued the current standard of 2.5 hours per resident can be inflated by counting administrative and supervisory duties and that direct care, rather than overall payroll accounting, better reflects resident access to bedside care.
The sponsor cited research linking higher levels of direct nursing care to improved outcomes, citing a landmark staffing study that identified roughly 4.1 direct nursing hours per resident as associated with stronger quality. He also referenced a 2024 CMS staffing rule proposal that would require 3.48 hours per resident of direct hands-on care; the sponsor noted that if a federal standard is adopted the state may need to conform to maintain federal funding.
Committee members asked whether administrative time counted toward reported staffing is tied to pay and sought additional testimony from facility-level representatives to describe current practices. The sponsor said the bill does not increase the legal minimum but aims to ensure the existing requirement measures the component of care that affects outcomes.
