Trump-era Limit on Nursing Homes Safety Fines Is Lifted

The Biden administration has quietly undone a Trump policy that severely restricted penalties imposed on facilities that violated safety standards.

As the Delta variant raises fresh concerns about the safety of the nation’s nursing homes, the Biden administration has quietly reversed a controversial Trump policy that had limited the fines levied on facilities that endangered or injured residents. Deaths in nursing homes, which peaked at the end of last year, have plummeted since the introduction of the Covid-19 vaccines. They account for nearly a third of the U.S. pandemic’s overall death toll. But inadequate staffing, protective equipment shortages and poor infection control remain concerns at the nation’s 14,000 skilled nursing facilities, advocates and some officials say.