A federal court in the northern district of Texas on Tuesday vacated the CMS minimum staffing mandate on the grounds that CMS does not have the authority to issue such a staffing mandate—only Congress does. The American Health Care Association (AHCA), joined by the Texas Health Care Association (THCA), LeadingAge, and several Texas long term care facilities filed a lawsuit in May of last year against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for exceeding their statutory authority and arbitrarily and capriciously issuing the Minimum Staffing Standards for Long-Term Care Facilities final rule. Mass Senior Care (MSCA), with widespread support from members, strongly opposed the CMS minimum staffing mandate primarily because the workers simply are not available to hire, the mandate is entirely unfunded, and fails to address strategies to address the workforce shortage. MSCA has been collaborating with the Healey Administration to develop and implement programs to bolster the pipeline of new caregivers including but not limited to nursing career ladder programs, implementing a certified medication aide role in nursing facilities and joining the nurse licensure compact. The Administration now has 60 days to decide whether to appeal yesterday’s court decision, MSCA will continue to provide updates.