Congress guarantees nursing home residents family visits during emergencies

What it does

This bill requires skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, intermediate care facilities for people with intellectual disabilities, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities to allow at least one family member or designated caregiver to visit and assist residents every day, even during emergencies when regular visitation is restricted by government order. Facilities can deny access for up to 7 days (or 14 with state approval) only if the caregiver violates written safety protocols, and residents or caregivers can appeal denials to state agencies within 48 hours.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a mandate requiring facilities to permit designated caregivers access during visitation restrictions, with enforcement through state appeals, corrective action plans, and civil penalties. It is fundamentally a resident-protection and family-access statute, not a facility-focused or industry-focused measure.

What the text implies

• Facilities may face operational and liability questions around infection control protocols during future public-health emergencies; the bill permits safety protocols 'no more restrictive than' those for staff, which could create disputes over what constitutes equivalent risk.
• The 2-year implementation delay allows facilities time to prepare but also defers protection during any emergency occurring before the effective date.
• State survey agencies will bear new investigative and enforcement burden; the bill does not appropriate funding for expanded state capacity to handle appeals within 48 hours.
• The definition of 'essential caregiver' is resident-designated, which protects autonomy but may create disputes if a facility believes a designated person poses safety or behavioral risks.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill restores and protects residents' access to family support during health crises, addressing documented harms from isolation (pressure ulcers, weight loss, depression, over-medication) that occurred during COVID-19 lockdowns. It creates enforceable rights with appeal mechanisms and penalties for facilities that wrongfully deny access, shifting power from institutions to residents and families.

Named in the bill

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), State survey agencies, Skilled nursing facilities, Nursing facilities, Intermediate care facilities for the intellectually disabled, Inpatient rehabilitation facilities, Long-term care ombudsmen, National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care

Where it stands

160 cosponsors: 84 Democrats, 76 Republicans.

• Dec 16, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Dec 16, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means and House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a…”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

4 lobbying clients named this bill on 4 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $5,795,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 32 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 72% of bills with at least one filing.

Claudia Tenney, the sponsor, reported $1,189,908 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• AARP — $5,300,000 on 1 filing
• Service Employees International Union Ctw-clc — $300,000 on 1 filing
• The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research — $150,000 on 1 filing
• Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration — $45,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.