Democratic lawmakers are blaming high executive pay at the three for-profit nursing home companies as the industry fights new minimum staffing requirements that would apply to nearly all U.S. facilities.
Executive compensation is letter The letter was sent Friday evening to the CEOs of Brookdale Senior Living, National Healthcare and Ensign Group, and was signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), and was first published by The Hill.
The lawmakers' analysis found that over the past five years, the three companies have paid their chief executives and directors a combined total of more than $250 million, rising from $36.9 million in 2019 to nearly $66.8 million in 2023.
Ensign's compensation more than doubled from $24.4 million in compensation for five executives and six directors in 2019 to $50.2 million in compensation for five executives and five directors in 2023, accounting for the bulk of the increase, according to the lawmakers' investigation.
The Biden administration announced the new requirements in April over opposition from the nursing home industry and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Critics have argued the federal standards are too costly and burdensome and could force facilities to close as the industry struggles to recover from the pandemic.
In their letter, the Democrats pushed back against three critics of the new requirements, noting that executive compensation at Brookdale Senior Living, National Healthcare and Ensign Group has increased while “at the same time arguing that they cannot afford to meet the new minimum staffing requirements.”
“New findings that your company increased executive compensation by nearly 25% in total last year alone, combined with the record profits you touted for the first two quarters of 2024, make it clear once again that you have ample funds available to provide quality health care but are instead using them to enrich yourself and other executives,” the lawmakers wrote.
Brookdale's seven executives and seven directors collectively earned about $10.9 million last year, up from $6.9 million made by five executives and nine directors in 2019. National Healthcare's five directors and seven executives received $5.7 million in 2023, up from $5.6 million in 2019.
A spokesman for Warren said executive compensation made up nearly all of her total compensation, and that total compensation to directors each year was about $1 million or less.
The lawmakers called it “insulting” that the for-profit nursing home industry “appears to prioritize lining the pockets of its executives and shareholders over creating sustainable working conditions for nurses and staff” and urged the companies “to reconsider their opposition to the rule.”
Reached for comment, a Brookdale spokesperson said: Company response Letter to Senator Warren and other lawmakers Sent in May The three companies were found to have paid out a combined $650 million in dividends, share buybacks and compensation to senior executives between 2018 and 2022.
Chad White, Brookdale's executive vice president, general counsel and secretary, disputed the lawmakers' “inaccurate” statements, saying the company “has not paid a dividend to shareholders since 2008” and that “its last share repurchase was in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic began.”
“Importantly (and contrary to the assertions in your letter), our concerns in this regard are unrelated to the potential direct financial impact to Brookdale's skilled nursing operations, especially given the small portion of our business that skilled nursing represents,” White said in the letter.
Neither Ensign nor National Healthcare responded to requests for comment.
According to the American Health Care Association (AHCA): investigation Of the 441 nursing homes listed in March, 99 percent had job openings, and 89 percent were hiring registered nurses.
The survey also found that 72% of care homes said they now have fewer staff than before the pandemic.
“[T]”This rule does nothing to address the challenges our nation faces regarding our growing elderly population,” White wrote in May, urging the Biden administration to “work with Congress to fund and support efforts to expand the workforce dedicated to providing care and services to seniors, including private pay senior housing providers.”
“The industry's arguments ignore the fact that the core problem is that nursing home nurses are not being paid enough,” the lawmakers said in the new letter.
The Economic Policy Institute think tank reports that on average, half of a care home's staff is replaced within a year. Public Comment The lawmakers cited proposed rules from last November.
“Without national staffing minimums, the for-profit nursing home industry can continue to hand out profits to its executives and shareholders at the expense of patients' lives,” the Democrats wrote.
