S. 4467 — Ensuring Seniors’ Access to Quality Care Act

This section revises nurse aide training and competency evaluation program requirements under Medicare and Medicaid. It directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with a State, to disapprove for up to 2 years any such program offered by or in a skilled nursing facility or nursing facility that has been assessed a civil monetary penalty of not less than $10,697 for substandard quality of care and has not corrected the deficiencies. The Secretary must rescind the disapproval upon demonstration that all deficiencies have been remedied, the facility has received no related direct patient harm deficiencies in the prior 2 years, and the Secretary certifies that the penalty did not involve immediate jeopardy for abuse or neglect. As background, these programs train and evaluate nurse aides who provide direct care to residents in long-term care facilities. The section requires the Secretary to issue implementing regulations within 180 days of enactment and applies the new disapproval criteria only to covered determinations made on or after the date of enactment while terminating prior prohibitions for affected facilities.

This section expands access to the National Practitioner Data Bank for employee background checks to include providers of services (as defined in section 1861(u) of the Social Security Act), suppliers (as defined in section 1861(d)), and providers of items or services under a State Medicaid plan (or waiver of such a plan), in addition to hospitals and other health care entities.