La Crosse, WI— Today, Rep. Ron Kind, along with Reps. Dan Kildee, Michael C. Burgess, and Fred Upton, introduced bipartisan legislation to provide additional resources for nursing homes to enhance quality of care and safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure nursing homes are prepared for future public health crises. The Infection Control Training and Support Act would provide an additional $210 million for quality and infection control support for nursing homes. Over 32,000 nursing home residents have died from the virus, which is over one-fourth of COVID-19 deaths.
“As we have seen during COVID-19, seniors and long-term care workers are especially vulnerable during public health crises, and we must work to ensure their safety,” said Rep. Ron Kind. “Nursing homes throughout Wisconsin are working hard to provide high-quality care and keep residents safe, but many long-term care facilities, especially in rural areas, have limited resources and this bill seeks to provide the necessary support.”
The Infection Control Training and Support Act would require the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide $210 million to Skilled Nursing Facilities struggling with infection control through the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program. The text of this legislation was included in the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, which passed the House on May 15th with bipartisan support.
Rep. Kind is a member of the Health Subcommittee on the Ways and Means Committee, the most powerful – and the oldest – committee in the House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over tax measures, the management of public debt, trade and tariff laws, Social Security, Medicare, pensions, and many other economic growth measures.